THE HIGH Court has frozen the assets of and suspended the practising certificate of a Co Cork solicitor who, it is claimed, withdrew large sums of money from his firm’s client account for his own benefit.
The orders were granted yesterday after the court was informed that Alexander Gibbons, who practises as Gibbons Co Solicitor, Kent Street, Clonakilty, Co Cork, had a €430,000 deficit in his client account.
The Law Society sought the orders after it “formed the view” that Mr Gibbons, who is the principle of the firm and has been working as a solicitor since 1989, “has been guilty of dishonesty”.
An accountant with the society who investigated his accounts found that payments from the client account included to an employee of Mr Gibbons, to Bandon Grammar School and for Mr Gibbons’s marina boat charge.
Mr Justice Garret Sheehan granted the orders following an ex-parte application made by Patrick Leonard on behalf of the society.
The orders also prevent Mr Gibbons from dissipating his assets. In addition no bank can make any payment out of any account in the name of Mr Gibbons’s firm.
The judge made the matter returnable before the High Court early next week when the Law Society intends to seek further orders against Mr Gibbons.
These include that he swear affidavits giving an explanation of the various matters arising out of the investigation of his firm, as well as full disclosure of all his assets and bank accounts.
Edward Sheehan, an investigating accountant with the Law Society, said in an affidavit that he went to Mr Gibbons’s practice last December to investigate if he had been complying with solicitors’ accounting regulations.
Mr Sheehan said he discovered that some of the records were not up to date and that there was a deficit in the firm’s client account of €63,000. That money, relating to stamp duty, was lodged in a personal account of Mr Gibbons.
Mr Sheehan said he believed Mr Gibbons “had falsified the books . . . to conceal that misappropriation”, but he was unable to complete his investigation as all the firm’s accounts had not been written up.
At a special meeting of the Law Society’s regulation of practice committee on March 10th, Mr Sheehan added, Mr Gibbons admitted the deficit and that his accounts were not up to date. He was given time to make good the deficit and update the practice’s accounts.
Mr Sheehan said that as of the end of May this year, there was a minimum estimated deficit of €430,958, mainly due to unauthorised withdrawals by Mr Gibbons, from the client account.