The High Court has made an order winding up a company which had claimed that it had given a sum of €635,000 to a financial adviser to be paid as settlement of a tax liability to the Revenue Commissioners but which had never been passed on to the authority.
Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday made the order winding up Ardline Aircon Ltd, which ceased to trade earlier this year, and appointed Mr Billy O'Riordan, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, as liquidator.
The winding up petition was brought by the Revenue Commissioners.
Previously the company had secured an interim High Court order freezing some €685,000 in assets of Mr Patrick Russell, a qualified barrister of Steelstown, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, who was stated to have acted as financial adviser to the company.
It was alleged that Mr Russell had produced a bogus receipt showing that money owed by Ardline Aircon Ltd to the Revenue had been paid.
Yesterday Mark O'Mahoney, for the Revenue, said the company was hopelessly insolvent and a winding up order should be made. He said a cheque for €635,000 sent to Revenue two weeks ago by Mr Russell had not cleared.
In addition to the sum alleged to have been paid to Mr Russell in order to discharge the tax liability, the company owed Revenue some €538,000.
Counsel for Mr Russell, Mr Alan Toal, told the court his instructions were that the money is there and the cheque is paid.
Mr Mark Sanfey SC, for the company, said because the cheque "had bounced" his clients were opposing the making of the winding up order because they wanted to pursue Mr Russell "with every vigour" themselves.
If the order was made, it would be taken out of their hands and it would be up to the liquidator to decide what was done regarding Mr Russell, counsel said. The company had done all it could to rectify the matter.
When seeking the freezing order, the company claimed that, between April and June last, Mr Russell, who had acted as a financial adviser for the company, was given €635,000 which was to be paid as settlement of a tax liability to the Revenue.
This money was never paid to Revenue, it was claimed. A receipt furnished by Mr Russell last August, which claimed that the Revenue had been paid, turned out to be "bogus".
The company had also paid Mr Russell €50,000, plus VAT, for his services.
