A DUBLIN solicitor who confessed that he gambled and lost €2.4 million of client funds on the stock exchange has been suspended from practising.
Much of the funds were destined for the Catholic Church in Dublin from a client’s estate, but Ruairi Ó Ceallaigh, who has a gambling addiction, lost large sums gambling via contracts for difference and shares, the High Court heard yesterday.
Ruairi (39) and his younger brother Cormac (37) qualified as solicitors in 2000 and 2001, and ran the Phibsboro, Dublin, firm of Seán Ó Ceallaigh Company, founded by their father in 1958, from 2003.
Cormac alerted the Law Society to problems with the firm’s accounts after Ruairi told him in late July he used €1.5 million borrowed from Allied Irish Bank in 2007 to buy shares rather than clear mortgages.
On August 18th, Ruairi admitted to gambling €2.4 million from the firm’s client account on stocks and shares. Ruairi, in court yesterday with his brother and parents, has resigned from the firm and apologised. Cormac said he had trusted his brother implicitly. While devastated by his “shameful dishonesty”, the family was determined to make restitution, with his elderly parents prepared to sell their home to help clear the deficit. The total liabilities of the firm, which employs 14 people, may exceed €4 million.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton made orders suspending Ruairi from practise, freezing his accounts and those of the firm. He also directed more information be provided before deciding the firm’s future.
While Ruairi had admitted fraudulent conduct, there was no evidence Cormac was anything but a responsible solicitor, the judge said.
