Financier Finbarr Ross acquitted of 36 charges by jury in Belfast court

Cork-born financier Mr George Finbarr Ross, whose Gibraltar-based International Investments company collapsed in the mid-1980s owing millions to Irish investors, was cleared yesterday of the bulk of the charges against him.

Mr Ross (55), was acquitted of 36 charges of false accounting following legal submissions at the close of the prosecution case at his trial in Belfast Crown Court. Trial judge Lord Justice McCollum told the jury of six women and four men that "as a result of certain submissions" he was going to withdraw those charges from their consideration.

He added that later he would ask them to find Mr Ross not guilty of the 36 charges and that he would explain to them the legal reasons behind the move.

The charges of false accounting related to the sending out of statements of accounts to depositors dated December 31st, 1983.

Lord Justice McCollum told the jury the move would allow them to "concentrate" their minds on the remaining three charges against Mr Ross. They include one of attempting to procure an investment for International and two of procuring investments from depositors.

The charges relate to a meeting held in the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on December 15th, 1983, when, the prosecution claimed, Mr Ross, knowing the company was nearly bankrupt, gave a "spiel" to brokers and investors that International was a sound and viable company to invest in.

When the company finally went into liquidation in August 1984, it was discovered that while it had assets of less that £2 million, its liabilities to its investors were more than £7 million.

In evidence in his own defence Mr Ross maintained that when he went to the Stormont meeting he believed that International was financially secure.

Later he rejected suggestions by prosecution lawyer Mr Gary McCrudden that he had used the hotel meeting as a last-ditch attempt to secure new investors to pay back monies coming due to original investors. "This was a last desperate and dishonest attempt by you to get new deposits in . . .to keep this ailing company afloat - you knew what was required and set about doing it at this meeting," Mr McCrudden claimed.

Mr Ross rejected this and claimed that he thought the picture of IIL and its financial status given to brokers and investors at the Stormont Hotel meeting was "an accurate portrayal". Mr Ross denied prosecution suggestions that while working in the US he still was the "man at the helm" of International and not Dublin surveyor Mr Frank Murray, who Mr Ross claimed was his partner, although the partnership was not "legally executed".

Earlier, he told his defence counsel, Mr Arthur Harvey QC, that before the meeting, Mr Murray - by this time running the Irish side of IIL's affairs - "gave me a glowing report of everything that was happening in Ireland". "All I remember him discussing with me was a building that he had just put a deposit on in Merrion Square and about some building he was looking at in London," said Mr Ross. "I introduced Frank Murray (to the meeting) and Frank Murray made a speech and we had lunch and after lunch there were certain conversations with people I had not met for a while - just general chat."

Mr Ross added the first he knew of any problems was about two to three months later when Isle of Man businessman Mr Ronnie Vincent, Mr Murray and several northern brokers turned up unexpectedly in Houston, Texas. Claiming that Mr Murray and a broker, Mr Jim Quinn, did most of the talking at the meeting, Mr Ross said he was told that "in the coming months International would have a temporary cash-flow crisis" but that would be met by an injection of cash from brokers on condition he signed over ownership of International to Mr Vincent.

Mr Ross claimed that after Mr Revell was replaced as liquidator of IIL in August 1984, the company's American assets were lost when US banks foreclosed on deals when monies promised to pay for the final stages of their development never materalised.

Later Mr Ross claimed that "if Mr Revell was allowed to do his job everybody would have got their money back", adding, "there was enough to pay everybody back".

Final legal submissions will be made to the jury today, after which it is expected they will retire to consider their verdicts tomorrow.