THE HIGH Court has frozen the assets of and suspended a solicitor from whose companies’ client accounts €900,000 is missing, it is alleged.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton yesterday made orders against solicitor Declan J McEvoy after being informed the Law Society’s fitness to practise committee had formed the view he had acted dishonestly.
The Law Society sought freezing orders against Mr McEvoy after the society’s investigating accountants discovered a deficit of €900,000 in the client accounts of the two firms of which he is principal – William Early solicitors, Haymarket, Carlow, and JM McEvoy and Co, the Avenue, Gorey, Co Wexford.
The judge granted orders suspending Mr McEvoy from practising as a solicitor.
He further ordered Mr McEvoy not to dispose of any assets in his possession, and that no bank should make a payment out of any account in his or his firms’ name.
Solicitor Kevin O’Doherty, for Mr McEvoy, a solicitor for almost 20 years, said his client was not opposing the proceedings.
The court heard Mr McEvoy had confirmed at a meeting with the Law Society last week that monies had gone missing and he was co-operating with the society.
Paul Anthony McDermott, for the Law Society, said Mr McEvoy’s difficulties arose out of claims against JM McEvoy and Co, which he bought from his father some years ago.
A mortgage Mr McEvoy obtained on a property that he did not own, which was subsequently sold, also added to his problems.
In an affidavit, Seamus McGrath, the senior investigation accountant with the Law Society, said inquiries carried out last month revealed a deficit in William Early’s client account of €500,000 and a €133,000 deficit in JM McEvoy and Co’s client account.
Mr McGrath also said large sums of money in client accounts held by the William Early firm were credited to an account in Mr McEvoy’s name.
The client funds were disbursed and it was not possible to establish the beneficiary of these funds.
Monies at JM McEvoy were diverted to make payments to unrelated third parties. Funds were also drawn down from the client account at that firm to support the office account.
Mr Justice Charleton adjourned the case and made it returnable before the High Court in early October.