The man in charge of finance and administration in the Dublin office of the Commission of the European Communities misappropriated more than £70,000 since March 1995, a Commission fraud investigator alleged in the High Court yesterday.
The Brussels official, Mr Thomas Forsch, claimed that Mr Sean Irving, Rowan Park Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, had on several occasions created false invoices for services supposedly rendered to the Commission.
In an affidavit, Mr Forsch said the sums involved, paid on the production of false invoices, were misappropriated by Mr Irving. He said an investigation conducted in September 1997 uncovered a large number of discrepancies and irregularities in the manner in which Mr Irving carried out his duties in Dublin.
There were 11 instances of misappropriation involving sums ranging from £800 to £21,000, he said. Some of the monies were routed through bank accounts in Belgium.
The Commission had become aware last September that Mr Irving's family home in Blackrock was up for sale by auction. A search carried out last month had revealed that on January 2nd 1998, Mr Irving had assigned his interest in the premises to his wife, Ms Bernadette Irving.
Mr Irving had been suspended from duty since November 1997 and during disciplinary proceedings he admitted to falsifying two invoices.
The price being sought for the Irving home was £315,000, he said.
On the application of Mr Maurice G. Collins, for the Commission, Ms Justice Laffoy granted two interim orders. The first restrains Mr Irving from reducing his assets below £100,000 and the second restrains him and his wife from dissipating or diminishing one half of the net proceeds of the sale of their family home.
The interim injunctions are effective until next Monday.