Mr Elio Malocco, the Dublin solicitor who served a jail term for defrauding the Irish Press Group, has failed in his High Court application to get an extension of time to appeal against a Law Society finding that he was guilty of misconduct.
The Law Society's disciplinary committee has recommended that Mr Malocco be struck off the roll of solicitors.
Mr Malocco was the subject of a Law Society investigation into his practice in 1991. This led to the High Court making orders freezing the accounts of the firm of Malocco and Killeen, and suspending the practising certificates of the partners.
A report of the Law Society's disciplinary tribunal in February 2000 found Mr Malocco guilty of conduct tending to bring the profession into disrepute. The report recommended he be struck off the roll of solicitors and made pay IR£50,000 to the compensation fund of the Law Society.
The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, yesterday refused to discharge a 1991 court order freezing bank accounts. Mr Malocco claimed that investigations into the financial affairs of his practice had concluded in March 1994.
From the date of the orders freezing his accounts, he claimed he had been unable to open a bank account, obtain credit, start a business or get a mortgage. One of the objects of his applications was to secure the release to him of funds standing to the credit of an account with AIB, Dame Street, Dublin. This account was opened in 1992 and contained rent payable out of a premises owned jointly by himself and his wife. He claimed these were not client funds and not affected by the court order.
Mr Justice Finnegan said he was satisfied that the purpose of Section 20 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1960 was not alone to preserve the client account of a solicitor but the assets of a solicitor so that claims might be satisfied. The Law Society had paid out €721,811 in losses having been incurred due to the dishonesty of Mr Malocco, he noted.