The former chief executive of the charity Bóthar plans to apply to the High Court to vary an injunction that has frozen his assets since the spring of 2021, a judge has heard.
The order, restraining David Moloney from reducing his assets to below €1.1 million, was secured by Limerick-based Bóthar after it alleged he misappropriated at least that amount in donations to the charity.
Mr Moloney, of Clino, Newport, Co Tipperary, has admitted before the court previously that he used donated sums for personal use.
His lawyers told the court on Thursday that they intend to deliver his defence to Bóthar’s claim within eight weeks and to apply to the court to adjust the 2021 freezing order.
Ireland’s 11 billionaires saw their wealth grow by a third to €50bn in 2024
Pancreatic cancer: ‘I just can’t explain what it felt like hearing those words’
Remote working in Ireland: People ‘are being pushed back to the office against their will’
‘The phone would ring and it would be Mike Scott from the Waterboys or Bono from U2. Everyone wanted to talk to my father’
The charity, which says it has now “turned a corner”, aids poor farmers in developing nations through livestock donations.
Mr Moloney joined Bóthar in 1995 and held the post of chief executive for eight years before resigning in February 2021.
On Thursday, the charity’s lawyers asked the court to make an order providing that judgment in default of defence will activate if Mr Moloney fails to deliver his defence within eight weeks.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan refused to make this specific order but directed Mr Moloney to deliver his defence within eight weeks. He gave him permission to issue a motion seeking to vary the freezing order.
The case, which seeks to recoup funds allegedly misappropriated, first came before the High Court in April 2021 when Bóthar secured an order preventing Mr Moloney from dissipating his assets below €465,000.
Mr Moloney initially denied any wrongdoing, but in May 2021 submitted an affidavit admitting he misappropriated large donated sums by spending it on family holidays and on friends. Based on his admissions, the High Court agreed to increase the freezing order value, preventing dissipation below €1.1 million.
Mr Moloney alleged much of the misappropriated money was paid to others, including the charity’s late founder, Peter Ireton, who died at his home in Castletroy, Co Limerick aged 68 less than a fortnight after Bóthar initiated its case against Mr Moloney.
The charity has since joined Vincent Ireton as a defendant to the case, a representative of Peter Ireton’s estate.
The Charities Regulator initiated an investigation into Bóthar in October 2020 but paused this once advised An Garda Síochána was conducting a criminal investigation into the charity’s activities.
In a public notice published last February, the regulator said the Garda investigation was still under way.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
