Dublin solicitor fined €1m, struck off

A disciplinary tribunal has ordered a Dublin solicitor who dishonestly borrowed almost €57 million from a number of financial institutions be fined €1 million and removed from the legal register.

Thomas Byrne, whose practice at Walkinstown Road, Dublin, has been closed by the Law Society, appeared before the Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal today to face a total of 64 charges.

The charges included forging a signature of a colleague on undertakings furnished to Irish Nationwide and EBS Building Societies to receive loans, abandoning his practice last October in breach of his legal obligations to
is clients and dishonestly removing files from his office.

The Law Society previously ordered an investigation of Mr Byrne's accounts when the irregularities emerged initially and this was carried out by forensic accountants from the KPMG consulting firm.

A representative from KPMG told the three man tribunal that they had uncovered borrowings of almost €57m in Mr Byrne's accounts relating to four properties. The monies were dishonestly furnished from six financial
institutions, he said.

Some €25 million of this money had been received by Mr Byrne from IIB Homeloans and a further €13.5 million was provided by EBS. None of the money had been repaid, the tribunal heard.

The KPMG representative said they were able to account for €8.6 million from Mr Byrne's accounts and another €14 million to the account of one of his clients.  The investigation was unable to trace the remainder of the balance, which was some €34 million.

The tribunal also heard of irregularities in the practice and client accounts of Mr Byrne.

Counsel for Mr Byrne, Sean O'Siocháin, did not rebut any of the charges but said his client had been under serious influence from one of his major clients. "An albatross which hung around his neck for years was this
particular client," Mr O'Siocháin said.

Shane Murphy SC, for the Law Society, said there was evidence of an overwhelming and systematic breach of trust, which had serious implications for the third parties involved.

He added that Mr Byrne's actions could have had serious implications for the standing of the legal profession in the State.

Tribunal chairman Frank Daly said Mr Byrne was guilty of professional misconduct in regard to each of the applications taken against him both individually and cumulatively.

"Clearly he is not someone who should be a member of the legal profession," Mr Daly said before ordering that Mr Byrne pay  €1million in penalties and costs to the Law Society. He also recommended that Mr Byrne be struck off the legal register.