Gardai plan to travel to Britain today to effect the return to Ireland of the investment broker Mr Tony Taylor, who has decided to drop his action contesting his extradition.

His extradition was sought on 15 warrants relating to charges of fraudulent conversion of money lodged with him by clients of his investment business.

It is understood that Mr Taylor will be taken from Lewes Prison, East Sussex to Gatwick Airport by English police officers and will then be handed over to the jurisdiction of their Irish counterparts. The gardai will accompany Mr Taylor to Dublin and he will then be taken immediately to the Dublin District Court in the Bridewell, where a preliminary hearing is expected to take place in relation to the 15 warrants.

The warrants refer to the Society of St Vincent de Paul and other investors and the financial loss involved is approximately £620,000 sterling (€1.02 million).

Sources in Britain said Mr Taylor signed a consent order within the last two weeks withdrawing an application of habeas corpus at the High Court in London. In a recent interview, Mr Taylor said he intended to drop the application at the High Court against his return to Ireland and clear his name.

He maintained that he did not flee Ireland with his clients' money but had left to go on holiday with his wife, Shirley.

Mr Taylor and his wife disappeared from their home in Dublin in 1996 at about the same time that his investment business collapsed.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation traced Mr Taylor to a rented house in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in August last year and he was arrested by English police on August 11th. He has been held at Lewes Prison since his first court appearance at Brighton Magistrates' Court on August 12th.

His investment company, Taylor Asset Management, was one of the largest private managers of client funds next to the major financial institutions.