Lawyers for a Cork businessman accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars are hoping to have him acquitted just after his trial opened in New Hampshire.
Jerry A Shanahan (41), formerly of Rochester, New Hampshire and the former chief operating officer for Enterasys Networks telecommunications giant, strongly denies charges that he altered company accounts to boost profits falsely.
At the start of a trial of Mr Shanahan and four other executives in New Hampshire, US district court judge Paul Barbadoro strongly attacked prosecutors for the slow pace getting the case to trial and admonished them for not being better prepared.
He said it was the most difficult case he had seen in 14 years on the bench.
A source close to the trial said that Mr Shanahan's lawyer, Andrew Good, is to seek to have his client removed from the case after the judge struck out large sections of evidence.
However, a spokeswoman for assistant US attorney William Morse, told The Irish Times yesterday that the office expects the trail to continue for the next number of weeks and that the case will go to the jury.
In his opening remarks to the jury, Mr Morse alleged that the accused were motivated by greed and the fear of losing their jobs. He warned the jury that they shouldn't be confused by complex defence arguments and told them to "keep their eyes on the cash".
Mr Shanahan is accused of involvement in a conspiracy that led to billions of dollars being wiped off the Enterasys stock price in 2002.
He volunteered to travel to Concord from Ireland to meet the charges last year.
The corporation employs about 1,700 people worldwide, including about 80 at Shannon Industrial Estate in Co Clare.
Mr Shanahan is accused of helping customers to buy Enterasys products to shore up profits.
Mr Shanahan is also charged of organising another deal in which the corporation would falsely show an additional $3 million (€2.2 million) in revenue.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy, as well as making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to auditors and in news releases.
Mr Shanahan was appointed chief operating officer of the Andover, Massachusetts corporation in 2001 but resigned with three executives the following year after the SEC announced its investigation.
