The seizure of a Mercedes by the Criminal Assets Bureau is being disputed by a Dublin business consultant, Mr Peter Bolger, and a company called Louisville, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Bolger was not in court for the hearing and Mr Justice Shanley was told he is at present in Gambia on business.
The judge told Mr Douglas Hogg QC, for Mr Bolger, that "it almost defies belief" how Mr Bolger did not know the hearing was listed for yesterday.
He would, however, suspend judgment on the matter until he heard Mr Bolger give his reasons for his absence.
Mr Justice Shanley fixed the hearing for February 4th. He directed that Mr Bolger pay £10,000 in costs to CAB after being told that there were 10 witnesses present in court yesterday, including one from England, to give evidence on behalf of the bureau.
Mr Hogg claimed the CAB had seized a Mercedes at Dublin airport on September 18th to pay part of an income tax debt allegedly owed by Mr Bolger.
Counsel said Louisville is the registered owner of the car and had applied for an order to deliver the vehicle.
At that point, the sheriff had the car, he said.
The real question to be resolved was who owned the car, Mr Hogg said. The CAB was claiming Mr Bolger was the owner.
On November 28th, with the consent of both parties, he had fixed December 5th as the date of the hearing, the judge said.
He was satisfied Mr Bolger and his solicitor were in the precincts of the Four Courts when he fixed the date.
Last Monday an application had been made for an adjournment and he was told Mr Bolger was already in Gambia and would not be able to return in time for yesterday's hearing.
Mr Justice Shanley said he had refused to adjourn the hearing because he was not satisfied Mr Bolger did not know of it.
It seemed abundantly clear that Mr Bolger was a witness central to the case. It defied belief why Mr Bolger did not know the case was listed for yesterday. However, it did not seem to be in the interests of justice to have the case proceed.
He awarded £10,000 costs for the three dates - November 29th and December 3rd and 5th. He ordered that the money be paid by Mr Bolger and Louisville within 21 days.
At a previous hearing, the court was told of other proceedings in which Mr Bolger is challenging a temporary order made in favour of CAB freezing £300,000 standing to his credit and to the credit of a company, Panorama Consultants, of which Mr Bolger was stated to be a principal.
On that occasion, the court was told the money was not the proceeds of crime.