The State's biggest cosmetic surgery group, Advanced Cosmetic Institute, has announced that a director of the company who faces criminal charges has resigned.
The company yesterday also moved to deny reports it is in financial trouble, saying the "business is operating as normal and continues to be robust".
As The Irish Times revealed last week, Mr Jeffrey Burton (50), a British national, was arrested at Dublin Airport last Monday week after arriving on a flight from the UK. He was detained at the Bridewell Garda station overnight and was charged on the Tuesday at the Bridewell Court with working as a director of a company while an undischarged bankrupt.
Mr Burton was released on bail and was scheduled to appear before an Irish court later this month. Following last week's court case it is understood he returned to the UK. The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) was last Wednesday made aware of allegations that Mr Burton had made a threatening phone call to a witness in the case.
A garda working for the ODCE went before the Bridewell Court last Wednesday, outlining the allegations, and a bench warrant was immediately issued for Mr Burton's arrest. Mr Burton can only be arrested when he returns to the State.
In a lengthy statement yesterday the company said: "Mr Burton's voluntary resignation follows a series of damaging personal allegations and his being charged for working as a director of a company while an undischarged bankrupt." The statement added that Mr Burton, "apologies profusely for the upset and distress" the matter had caused to clients, suppliers and staff at the group. "Mr Burton, whose bankruptcy is now discharged, was unaware that matters in the UK affected his position as a director in Ireland," the statement said.
Mr Burton has been the subject of a UK disqualification order since July 1995. Under UK law, a company director can be disqualified from practising if the police suspect a fraud, for "general misconduct whilst running a company", if a director knowingly continues to trade while insolvent, or for "breaches of the filing requirements, as specified in the Companies Act".
Records at the UK Companies Office show that one of the firms Mr Burton was associated with, Morcol Ltd, is now dissolved. At the Irish Companies Office, his Irish address is listed as Malahide Marina, Dublin. Records at the Irish Companies Office show at various other times Mr Burton was director of three other Irish companies.
In its statement, Advanced Cosmetic Institute described as "misleading" some reports in recent days regarding its financial position. There was no loan outstanding to Mr Burton on December 31st, 2001, it said.
The company had reported a profit after taxation for 2001 of €67,230 on a turnover of €7.2 million, the statement said. It added there were just two clients taking personal injury claims against it. About other complaints, the company said most related to "unfulfilled expectations by clients rather than negligence".
