Author: gavin

Corruption comparisons

Not only is America the most powerful country in the world today but it is by far the most powerful country in history. Therefore, when we talk about those who are presently in power in the White House, we are talking about the most powerful people ever in the history of the world. Yet, we read that one of these people, Lewis Libby, the vice-president’s chief of staff, could be facing 30 years in jail and millions of dollars in fines.

His alleged crimes? Perjury, making a false statement and obstruction of justice. I mention this case because it is useful in strengthening my opinion that Ireland is not just a country that suffers from a degree of corruption but is, as an entity, a corrupt state. Making comparisons is a good method of confirming this.

Anyone familiar with corruption in Ireland in recent years will know that perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice are very common. This is especially true of the more powerful members of Irish society.

Charlie Haughey, for example obstructed the McCracken tribunal but a judge ruled that because he was so well known he would not get a fair trial. This, in effect puts him above the law, a position he shares with hundreds of other so called elites of Irish society.

If Lewis Libby was an Irish politician, he would be receiving standing ovations from his political party and high praise from the leader of the country.

Revenue still toothless

In yesterday’s Irish Times we read that a Dublin businessman, Mr. Leslie Reynolds was sentenced to three months jail for tax evasion.

At first glance this might give the impression that Revenue is beginning to get tough on tax criminals, like real democracies do. Not a chance. They still operate a policy of amnesties. No other country in the world can match the number of tax amnesties so far granted to tax criminals in Ireland. Nine according to my latest reckoning, it could be more.

What affect does this policy have on Irish citizens? Well, Mr. Reynolds is a good example. For years, he robbed millions from the State in a well organised fraud. He was confident, and his confidence is justified by today’s sentence, that even if he was caught, he would not be treated as the major criminal he really is.

A mere three months in jail, sure won’t it be a grand rest for him from all his criminal activity. He was also fined €15,000. Mmm…lets see where that registers on the scale of Mr. Reynolds wealth…No, sorry, it doesn’t register at all.
If Mr. Reynolds was unlucky enough to live in, say, America, he would now be serving, at a minimum, five years and would be paying out millions in fines in addition to the wholesale confiscation of his properties.

What kind of reaction could we expect from the ordinary Irish taxpayer to this totally incompetent treatment of major tax criminals?

‘Feck that, I am going to cheat the State and everyone else every chance I getâ€?

.

And who could blame him?

Groundhog Day

The establishment of “Forum for Opportunity’, an elite club where political influence can be bought, the re-commissioning of a military parade to celebrate1916 and a standing ovation for Charles Haughey at the recent Ard Fheis, all indicate that Fianna Fail have learned nothing from the events of recent history.

Irish citizens should prepare themselves for Groundhog Day.

Different standards

The following is how Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell reacted to Independent Newspapers treatment of the Liam Lawlor story.

‘It was grossly offensive, it was cruel and it was utterly lacking in any foundation in fact…apologies in the circumstances will never undo the trauma.â€?

In contrast, his reaction to his solicitor peers after they were found to have robbed their vulnerable clients of thousands was – Silence.

Avalanche of corruption

I mentioned before how difficult it is to keep track of corruption in Ireland. The following list compiled from media reports over the last few days will help to make the point.

1. Two nursing home patients who died last year were buried without death certificates being issued. No action taken.

2. 75 year old man dies from blood loss after attempts to transfer him to three different hospitals for emergency surgery failed. This case is related to a chaotic and incompetent third world health service still suffering from ruthless cutbacks in the 1980s.

3. Transparency International annual report sees Ireland again slipping down the corruption index.

4. Billionaire Dermot Desmond writes an open letter to the Moriarty Tribunal complaining, among other things, that the tribunal is a waste of public funds. Dermot is a close friend of corrupt politician Charlie Haughey. Dermot apparently had no problem when his friend cost the taxpayer a lot of money by his non co-operation with the McCracken tribunal some years ago.

5. An Oireachtas committee is to inquire into the multi-million euro conference centre deal entered into by Dublin Port Company with a number of private developers. This case has been simmering for some time now. An Oireachtas committee is just a talking shop. Whatever is going on here we can be sure of two things. It will cost the taxpayer millions and no action will be taken.

6. Computer systems that cost millions for the Dept. of Health but don’t work. Millions paid to consultants to make sure they did work. Nobody accepts responsibility. Taxpayer is hit yet again.

7. The family of Brian Rossiter (14) who fell into a coma in Garda custody and later died have said they cannot afford to take part in the inquiry unless Minister for Justice Michael McDowell increases their fees.

8. Dublin’s Mater hospital stopped the trials of an important drug for treating lung cancer because the scheme didn’t comply with the Catholic ethos of the hospital

9. Dozens of vulnerable people who were abused by the State and church have again been abused by their solicitors who double charged them for work before the Residential Institutional Redress Board.

10. The pensions ombudsman, in his first annual report states clearly that some employers, particularly in the construction industry, have been stealing money from their employees. No action will be taken.

Keep in mind that all these cases have been in the news in just the last 7 to 10 days. Neither is this just a once off, this level of corruption and dodgy dealing is common all year round in Ireland. I would ask readers to carry out a small experiment. Check out media reports from a number of other countries and compare them to the above list of cases. You will find that even the most base banana republics will come nowhere near the level of corruption seen here in Ireland.

Scampering rats

Panic, panic, panic, the thieving solicitors are tripping over themselves to pay back the money they robbed from their vulnerable clients (victims). The obvious question arises – why? If, as many of them claim, the monies taken were legitimate fees, why the headlong rush to pay the money back?

We can get some idea of how these vultures operate from the latest development in the scandal. Apparently, some thieving solicitors, as a condition for returning the monies robbed, are insisting that their victims sign a statement promising that they will not make a complaint to the Law Society.

This matter was due to be aired on Liveline today but because of the kidnapping of the Irish journalist in Iraq, there wasn’t enough time. Hopefully, Joe will discuss the matter tomorrow.

Nine days now since this corruption was uncovered and still no police or State involvement, just not interested. Meanwhile, the Law Society is working away on behalf of its members. As I said in my first posting on this outrage, not a single solicitor will face real justice. That’s how it goes in the Banana Republic of Ireland.

Rossiters to boycott inquiry into son's death

The parents of Brian Rossiter have decided to boycott the inquiry into their son’s death, and the story was making the rounds in the evening news stories yesterday. McDowell was on Morning Ireland this morning to give his view, you can listen to that here.

He argued that the fees are reasonable, while the hack on Morning Ireland argued that the Garda Representative Association (GRA) may end up helping the Gardai involved by paying extra for the more expensive (read ‘better’) Senior Counsels. Some SC’s can charge as much as 3-4000 euro per day, while the Rossiter’s have been given a fee of €1008 a day.

Conor Lally and Joe Humphries report in the Irish Times:

He said a daily fee of €1,008 had been offered for senior counsel, €720 for junior counsel and €800 for a solicitor.

However, because there was no provision for payment for preparatory work or for expenses incurred during the hearing, the Rossiters could not take part in the inquiry.

“I think everybody is going to have to get used to the daily fee, but if the Minister thinks this works like a district court, where you just stand up and talk, that’s not how it works,” Mr O’Carroll said.

He was having difficulty finding a senior counsel who was available and willing to take on the work because they were not going to be paid for their preparation.

Mr O’Carroll also said that because he was based in Cashel and Clonmel, the lack of any expenses on offer was a cause of considerable difficulty.

“They won’t be [able to attend], it’s as simple as that. And we should not be expected to hand over any of the information we have gathered over the last three years if I am not there to represent the interests of my clients,” he said.

Mr McDowell said he regretted the Rossiters hadn’t availed of the “generous legal fees” he had provided for lawyers in the inquiry.

The inquiry had statutory powers to request people to attend whether or not they had a lawyer.

The Minister said all solicitors and barristers were being paid the same rate for all commissions of inquiry in accordance with recently passed legislation. This followed “a pattern of higher fees which has been the subject of much public criticism”.

While some lawyers might have “ingrained expectations” for the old pattern of fees, a new era had arrived and expectations would move to reflect that.

Mr O’Carroll told The Irish Times he has also informed the chairman of the statutory inquiry, Hugh Hartnett SC, that the Rossiter family believed the inquiry’s terms of reference were too narrow.

They were concerned the inquiry was taking place in closed session and could not be reported on by the media. The inquiry proper is expected to begin next week.

Brian Rossiter was found unconscious in a cell in Clonmel Garda station on the morning of September 11th, 2002, following his arrest on suspicion of a public order offence the previous night.

He was taken to St Joseph’s hospital in Clonmel and later transferred to Cork University Hospital but never regained consciousness and died there on September 13th, 2002.

Four weeks ago Mr McDowell announced that Mr Hartnett would conduct the inquiry into the death. The dead boy’s parents, Pat and Siobhan, are also pursuing a civil action.

They have questioned the appropriateness of establishing an inquiry under Section 12 of the Dublin Police Act, 1924, which Mr O’Carroll has said means the inquiry is “in essence a Garda Sa­ochana disciplinary forum”.

Mr Hartnett will have the power to summon witnesses and to examine them under oath.

20 gardai turned up 'to support' colleague

A bit of a non-story really, but related to the ongoing Morris Tribunal.

About 20 gardai­ and some business people from Sligo turned up in court in 2002 to support a garda who was being prosecuted for submitting forged certificates, the Morris tribunal heard yesterday.

Anthony Barr SC, for the tribunal, asked Insp Gerard Connolly, Sligo, what the purpose was of having so many gardai­ turn up for the court case of John Nicholson.

“Was it the case that Mr Nicholson was in a very public way taking the rap for the seven certificates, when in fact his involvement, according to his evidence here, was much less than the seven?” he asked.

Insp Connolly replied that at that time, Mr Nicholson’s health was very bad.

Mr Barr asked how the presence of gardai­ and a number of business people would help his condition.

“I’d say it was a form of support for Mr Nicholson. He was very supportive to everybody over the years – to colleagues and the public in general,” Insp Connolly replied.

Mr Nicholson, now retired, pleaded guilty to three charges of uttering, or submitting, forged certificates and received the Probation Act.

€2.8m a year in tax reliefs from pool deal, court told

The Dublin Waterworld case continues:

Limerick businessman Pat Mulcair is gaining enormous tax advantages, amounting to some €2.8 million a year in tax reliefs, arising from “funding arrangements” put in place for the €62 million National Aquatic Centre, the High Court was told yesterday.

…

John Moriarty, a director of DWL, said yesterday he was reluctant to give certain documents about those funding arrangements to CSID because he had concerns those documents would be leaked to the media. He had previously given financial details to CSID and matters had appeared in the media. He did not want “purely commercial matters” between himself and Mr Mulcair appearing in the press. Certain documents were provided to CSID but, he agreed, other documents were not.

He denied a suggestion by CSID’s senior counsel, Denis McDonald, that CSID was not told of the precise arrangements involving Mr Mulcair because this would leave the State company in a difficult position in that the arrangement involved enormous tax benefits for a private citizen. Mr McDonald said the capital allowances available for a corporate tenant such as DWL would be a lot less than those available for an individual such as Mr Mulcair.

Mr Moriarty said he had revealed Mr Mulcair’s involvement in the project on February 20th, 2003, and the funding arrangement involving Mr Mulcair was revealed on April 15th, 2003. He had brought Mr Mulcair’s representative to the lease signing.

He said the proposed funding arrangements for the centre did not prejudice CSID in any way and the whole purpose of the funding arrangements agreed with Mr Muclair was to bring money into the aquatic centre project.

Mr Moriarty said Mr Mulcair had since 2003 provided some €1.8 million to the aquatic centre in money paid to an assets repair account used to pay repair and energy costs arising from defects in the building.

Kozeny says he needed Irish passports for business

Ah the passports for sale scheme. What memories. It has reared its ugly head again it seems :

It emerged this week that Mr Kozeny has been issued six Irish passports and at least two others from the Czech Republic and Venezuela.

He disclosed five of the Irish passports to a Bahamas court last Thursday. However, his lawyer has since said that Mr Kozeny’s mother found a sixth Irish passport at Mr Kozeny’s Bahamas home, as well as a Czech passport issued in 1994.

Mr Kozeny (42) was indicted in New York this month for allegedly masterminding a multi-million-dollar scheme to bribe officials in Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company during a fraudulent privatisation scheme in which US investors lost over $100 million (€83.6 million).

He was previously indicted in New York for organising the allegedly fraudulent privatisation and is also wanted in his native Czech Republic for allegedly organising another fraudulent privatisation in which 80,000 small investors collectively lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr Kozeny was granted Irish citizenship in 1995 after investing over €1 million in an Irish medical software company.

The Government is to introduce legislation to ensure that the passports-for-investment scheme is never re-introduced.

Surely there are legitimate reasons for having so many passports, aren’t there?