MRS Geraldine Gilligan, the wife of Mr John Gilligan, was granted a temporary High Court order yesterday preventing the Criminal Assets Bureau from disposing of property seized at her premises last Wednesday.
Mr Gilligan is detained in England on drug trafficking charges.
Mrs Gilligan, of Mucklon, Enfield, Co Kildare, was granted the interim injunction by Mr Justice Moriarty. The case is to come before the court again next Monday.
The injunction restrains the CAB and the Revenue Commissioners from advertising for sale or taking any steps to dispose of property of Mrs Gilligan which was seized.
Mrs Gilligan, in an affidavit read by her counsel, Mr Adrian Hardiman SC, said that she had been married to Mr John Gilligan since March 27th, 1974. Throughout their married life, until November/December 1994, she had no separate income of her own account and had never been separately assessed for income tax.
She had been legally separated from her husband since July 1995. She was the owner of an equestrian centre at Jessbrook House, Enfield, Co Kildare, and had been in business there since January 1995 in that capacity. She lived in a house adjacent to the centre.
Mrs Gilligan said that when she started up in business and began earning income in her own right she had engaged the services of Mr John Handibode, accountant, of Village Court, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Handibode and Co had instructions from her to prepare the books and records for her business at Jessbrook Equestrian Centre and at all material times had the custody of all books and records.
The proper books of account were kept by her and transmitted on a timely basis to Mr Handibode. In the course of her business activities she had had a VAT inspection in November 1995. The inspector had not expressed any dissatisfaction with her records.
On about August 6th 1996, Mrs Gilligan said, she had received an assessment of income tax for the year 1994/95 in the sum of £1.6 million.
She had been advised that the wording of this assessment indicated that it had been raised under section 19 of the Finance Act, 1983, in respect of earnings, the sources of which were not known to the inspector or which were known to have arisen from unlawful source of activity.
Mrs Gilligan said that in the year 1994/95 any income she had earned in her own right was from the operation of the equestrian centre, which was operated by her in a lawful manner.
She had instructed her solicitors, Michael E. Hanahoe & Co, to appeal the assessment and to query the make up of it. It had subsequently engaged in correspondence with Mr Barry Galvin, inspector of taxes with the CAB.
Insofar as she was required to lodge a return of income for 1994/95, in order to be permitted to appeal the assessment, she had been prevented from doing so by the seizure of her records from the offices of Handibode & Co.
On November 14th, 1996, a demand was served on her by CAB. She had been advised that this demand was invalid.
Last Wednesday, her solicitors had received a copy of a certificate issued by the CAB to the sheriff, requiring him to levy execution in respect of £1,147,139. She had been advised that this certificate was invalid.
Mrs Gilligan said that, on Wednesday last, when at her home in Mucklon, adjacent to her business premises, Mr Frank Lannigan had called to her house with several officers and had identified himself as the revenue sheriff for Co Kildare.
He had informed her that he was there to remove her goods. He proceeded to enter the house with his assistants and take away the entirety of the fixtures and fittings in the equestrian centre. The sheriff's agents also took away many personal items. These included all of the furniture and personal effects in her living quarters.
She was informed by the sheriff, when he had finished taking her goods, that the items would be sold after 48 hours had expired.
She had not had an opportunity to dispute the assertion that she was liable in her own right to pay £1,147,139 to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the year of assessment 1994/95. In that year, the only income she had earned was a modest sum in the January April trading period.
Mrs Gilligan said that she was prepared to make returns of income when her books were returned to her and she had obtained the services of an accountant to prepare tax returns.
Mr Hardiman told Mr Justice Moriarty that the sheriff's visit took place in the presence of the media. A range of domestic goods had been seized. Included were beds, items of furniture and a yard brush. Televisions and footwear had also been removed. Virtually nothing was left.
Mrs Gilligan had a statutory right to appeal the assessment. She was in a "Catch 22" situation because she could not put in a return unless she got the books.
Mr Justice Moriarty was told that Mrs Gilligan's accountant had now resigned.
Granting the temporary injunction until Monday, the judge said that he would express no views as to the merits of any of the matters.