A High Court application to commit to prison a Dublin businessman for contempt of court has been adjourned until next week. Mr Thomas O'Keeffe, of the Sweepstakes, Ballsbridge, Dublin, has already served a two-week prison term for having failed to comply with court directions to provide information about large sums of money he had been given to invest.

Mr O'Keeffe's case earlier created headline news when the High Court was informed on a day he was due to appear that he had died the previous night. Within hours of the news, the court was informed that Mr O'Keeffe's death had been greatly exaggerated and that he had merely sought admission to a Dublin hospital for treatment.

On May 2nd, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns jailed Mr O'Keeffe for a fortnight for having failed to comply with earlier court orders directing him to provide information about some $5 million (€5.4 million) which a US businessman, Mr John O'Neill, had given him to invest.

He had also been ordered to give information about €750,000 given to him on behalf of other investors including professional golfer Mr Des Smyth. Other court orders related to providing information about his assets and bank accounts.

Mr John Trainor, SC, for Mr O'Neill, and Mr Charles Meenan, SC, for the other investors, yesterday disputed Mr O'Keeffe's assertion that he had given all the information in his possession and had complied with the orders.

Mr O'Keeffe has been restrained by the High Court from leaving the jurisdiction or from reducing his assets. Mr Justice Murphy was told yesterday that Mr O'Keeffe had tried to reduce his assets and had operated bank accounts in defiance of existing court orders, allegations which Mr O'Keeffe denied in evidence.

He said he had furnished lawyers for Mr O'Neill and the other investors with 80 documents relating to his affairs which were all he had in his possession. Provision of some documents had been delayed because they had to be traced and copied.

Mr Trainor told the court yesterday that much of the documentation provided by Mr O'Keeffe had given rise to matters of further considerable concern relating to his activities.

Mr O'Keeffe told the court that during his two weeks in prison he had been locked up in a four-person cell with three hardened criminals who smoked and played music all night and that he had had to live on cereals while in jail. It had taken him several days to recover his health afterwards.