A High Court judge has jailed a Co Galway businessman for two weeks for contempt over failure to disclose adequate material relating to the extent of business interests sought as part of efforts to execute a €3.4 million judgment order against him.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern directed gardaí last Thursday to arrest James Clancy, Eagle Rock, Furbo, Co Galway, and take him to Mountjoy Prison to serve a two week term for contempt.
The judge had made a committal order against Mr Clancy on March 26th last for default of earlier court orders relating to disclosure of assets and business interests and also made an order restraining him disposing of assets below €3.4 million.
The judge stayed the committal order to Thursday last to allow him more time to comply, but, on that date, he directed Mr Clancy should be jailed for two weeks for contempt.
The committal order was made on the application of the De Lange Langen Ireland Company, trading as ACC Asset Finance, which on April 22nd, 2009, secured the €3.4 million judgment against Mr Clancy over unpaid loans for a machine used for the manufacture of prefabricated polystyrene houses.
On May 18th, 2009, Mr Justice Peter Kelly made an order requiring Mr Clancy attend before the court on July 2nd, 2009, to be examined about his assets and liabilities and whether he had property or other means of satisfying the judgment. Mr Clancy was also required to produce books or documents relating to his means to satisfy the judgment.
ACC subsequently alleged Mr Clancy had failed to disclose all relevant details of his business affairs, including details or documents relating to a factory in Romania in which he had invested approximately €2 million or relating to claims concerning ownership of another polystyrene machine in the United Arab Emirates.
ACC said it only learned about these matters for the first time from an affidavit which the court had directed Mr Clancy to swear.
Mr Clancy has said he had no income since 2007 and his Clanview Construction Business was just about gone. In an affidavit last July, Mr Clancy said he had tried in earnest to comply with the court orders but had had problems obtaining documents. He had believed ACC was aware of his difficulties, he added.
Previously the court heard Mr Clancy bought another polystyrene machine in late 2006, which represented an investment of €4.8 million, which he had shipped out to Abu Dhabi from Italy. He had gone into business there with a Tariq Mohammed, but had been unable to keep up his end of the deal and his partner had seized the machine, it was stated.
Under cross-examination, Mr Clancy said he was unsure about the status of the ownership of the machine in the UAE. He also said he, using his own money, finance from another Galway-based party and a €1 million loan from Bank of Scotland, had invested almost €2 million in a factory in Romania.
He said he took a Romanian partner on board in order to finish the project but that man had sold land which the factory was built on without his consent. As a result the Romanian police got involved and all the documentation had been seized, and he had no access to it.