Firm owner summoned over debt collection

A BUSINESSMAN is to be subpoenaed to appear before the High Court next week after a judge was told gardaí had received information that a “well-known criminal family” had engaged a Limerick person “known to the gardaí” to collect a debt from another businessman.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern yesterday directed a subpoena could be served on the home address of Tony Woods, described as the owner of Midland Steel, after being told attempts to serve a subpoena on him personally at his workplace proved unsuccessful.

The judge was dealing with issues arising from efforts of ACC Asset Finance to enforce a €3.29 million judgment order obtained by it in April 2009 against James Clancy, Furbo, Co Galway.

The De Lange Langen Ireland Company, trading as ACC Asset Finance, had secured the judgment over unpaid loans for a machine used in manufacturing prefabricated polystyrene houses.

ACC Asset Finance has been attempting for some time to secure information about assets of Mr Clancy in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere, but has alleged he has failed to provide all the information sought.

Mr Clancy was jailed last April for two weeks for contempt of court orders in that regard, and Mr Justice McGovern yesterday warned him he faced a longer jail term unless the court orders were complied with.

A solicitor for Mr Clancy said the court previously heard he had an agent in Abu Dhabi, Stephen Graham, who helped him negotiate the release of equipment held there with €150,000 money raised by Mr Clancy from Mr Woods. Mr Clancy, the court previously heard, spent some €4.8 million on equipment as part of an intended joint venture building project.

Mr Clancy had intended going into partnership with another firm in Abu Dhabi but that did not happen, the solicitor said. His instructions were that Mr Graham had negotiated the release of equipment and this was stored in another warehouse in Abu Dhabi, but costs were incurred and some €275,000 was now owed.

It appeared Mr Woods employed persons to collect the debt or sold the debt to them. Mr Clancy had no connections with those persons, the solicitor added.

Det Garda Michael Staunton, of the crime unit of Salthill Garda station in Galway, said he called to Mr Clancy at his home last month to speak with him after the Garda criminal intelligence unit received information there was a threat to him, and that a well-known criminal family had engaged a person in Limerick, known to gardaí, to collect a debt from him.

Det Gda Staunton said intelligence available to him identified the person to whom money was owed, but he was claiming privilege over the intelligence. He could not disclose details about security measures, he added.

In reply to Shane Murphy, for ACC, Det Gda Staunton said Mr Graham was not mentioned in the intelligence reports. Asked was Mr Woods included, Det Gda Staunton said he was claiming privilege. Mr Clancy had previously said he had no income, his Clanview construction business was just about gone and he had tried to comply with court orders but had problems obtaining documents.