Supreme Court orders another hearing of challenge over fraudulent online email account scheme
Supreme Court
has ruled there should be another hearing of a
Swedish
man's
High Court
challenge over a finding that $651,000 (€557,000) held in an Irish bank account represented the proceeds of a fraudulent online email account scheme.
An appeal by Harry Zeman, a director of Swedish firm Routeback Media AB, to the Court of Appeal (CoA) over the High Court decision was dismissed in 2022.
A five-judge Supreme Court heard a further appeal last April and in a unanimous decision on Tuesday, with one judge dissenting in part, it allowed the appeal and ordered the case go back to the High Court so that fresh evidence could be considered.
The original High Court application to have the money declared the proceeds of crime was brought by the
Criminal Assets Bureau
(Cab).
READ MORE
That court heard the money was collected by Routeback, trading as Local Mart, over just four days as part of a scam primarily targeting card holders in the United States.
The Cab claimed Swedish police sent information regarding Mr Zeman's alleged ties to organised crime, the court also heard.
The High Court ordered in 2011 that Routeback and Mr Zeman could not dispose of or deal in the asset pending further order, under Section 3.1 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996.
That decision was not appealed in time and seven years later, in 2018, the Cab sought a final disposal order of the money, forfeiting it to the State, under Section 4 of the 1996 Act.
At this final disposal hearing, Mr Zeman claimed procedural unfairness and that he had new evidence. The High Court ultimately made a final disposal order in 2022.
The Supreme Court ruled that while a non disposal/non dealing Section 3.1 order was final in nature, there remained scope under the legislation for the respondent to raise fresh evidence but only in strictly limited and justified circumstances. It did not change the fact that litigants must present their full case at the earliest possible opportunity, it said.
It said it was allowing the appeal for the case to be remitted to the High Court for a limited hearing focused solely on genuinely new evidence. The burden is on Mr Zeman to prove the assets did not derive from criminal activity or that making a disposal order would be unjust, it said.
In a judgment with which Justices Gerard Hogan, Séamus Woulfe and Maurice Collins agreed, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said an unjust order should not be made where there may be claims that an uninvolved party's assets have been mixed with criminal property.
Alternatively, if a respondent failed to contest the original non disposal/non dealing order due to, for instance, illness, duress or lack of awareness, but now presents tenable evidence, then such a case may raise interests of justice, he said.
He also said there is no automatic right to cross-examine deponents in proceeds of crime cases. Cross-examination is under the court's oversight and is limited to issues where new evidence, with factual disputes, require it and with the focus remaining on what is necessary for an efficient and just resolution, he said.
Mr Justice Collins also gave a judgment in which he agreed with Mr Justice Charleton and disposition of the appeal.
Mr Justice Brian Murray agreed the appeal should be allowed, but dissented in part in a separate judgment. He outlined in nine points the proper relationship between applications made under the relevant Section 3 and 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Dulux Paints takes court action over Cork site
The site, which straddles the River Bride near the Commons Road in Blackpool on the northside of the city, had been used to manufacture paint for 140 years before Dulux closed it down at the end of last year. Dulux Ireland has now filed in the High Court a special summons, which is normally a fast-track procedure that can be used to resolve questions around deeds or the administration of trusts. Simon Colvan, head of communications UK and Ireland, for Akzonobel — the Dutch company that owns the Dulux paint brand — said in response to queries that the action was 'a relatively routine administrative process'. 'The case relates to our site in Cork and aims to resolve a historical ownership issue around part of the site. We're taking the necessary legal steps to ensure property records are accurate and up to date,' he said. Colvan did not respond when asked whether the legal move was necessary as part of a potential plan to sell the site by the firm. In May last year, Dulux announced it was shutting the paint manufacturing business on the Commons Road with the loss of 45 jobs. Most manufacturing of Dulux paint was moved to existing UK facilities. The news was a blow to the area and there were calls at the time for the site to be redeveloped. Reports at the time said although more than €2m was invested in an upgrade of the plant in 2010, that modernisation was needed and a new facility would have been required to retain production at the site. In 2019 the firm pleaded guilty after it was prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency for a breach of its Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Licence. A spokesman said 'the department has not received any papers in relation to any case involving Dulux Ireland. As such we cannot offer any comment.'
Irish Independent
2 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Solar 21 still aiming to pay back 90pc despite insolvency of key asset
But such returns are now 'heavily dependent' on the value that can be achieved from the sale of the rights of a proposed energy project in North Lincolnshire that has the go-ahead from the UK government. That is according to an update from consultancy group Alvarez & Marsal which is supervising a High Court-approved scheme of arrangement aimed at repaying Solar 21 investors. Management has said the expected value of this proposed project is now 'significantly higher than the £100m (€116m) estimate provided in the Schemes'. Thousands of Irish investors are owed as much as €300m by the Rathcoole investment firm. The sale of the Tansterne power plant — which the company had valued at over €100m just two years ago — had long been touted as a key part of the plan to raise the money to repay investors. But in June it was sold as part of a 'pre-pack administration' for a total sale price of €4m, including €3.3m of debt, meaning the sale will not provide any return to the scheme of arrangement, according to the report. Trading performance at another key asset slated for sale, the Plaxton Biogas Plant, has been 'worse than forecast due to operational issues and liquidity constraints', the report said. 'There have also been delays obtaining planning consents and the planned sales process has been postponed following tax advice,' it said. The value that Solar 21 can achieve for the North Lincolnshire project rights will now need 'to compensate for the lower than-expected returns from the Tansterne Biomass Plant and Plaxton Biogas Plant,' said the report. 'It is also likely it will take longer than anticipated in the Schemes Scenario for funds to be returned to the Scheme Investors (although Management expects the assets will still be sold within the deadlines in the Schemes, i.e. by 26 November 2026),' it said.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
What will Ireland's costly five-year schools abuse inquiry achieve?
In recent weeks, the Government has announced the establishment of an inquiry into sexual abuse in all schools, primary and second level . Now people who suffered physical abuse are asking, 'what about us?' Four categories of abuse are used in classifying abuse – sexual, physical, emotional, and neglect. In the legal world, a claim of sexual abuse appears to have top billing when it comes to redress, but that should not take from the fact that the effects of any abuse, experienced as a child, can be difficult to measure. When we consider the hurt caused by verbal abuse, mockery, classroom humiliation, exclusion, we realise that these experiences can have lifelong consequences for the individual and society. Social class played a part in the abuse in schools . READ MORE Noted Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, writing about oppressors versus the oppressed, made the point that very few, if any, are capable of overcoming the views and prejudices of the class into which they were born. Teachers in schools, be they religious or secular, tended to come from middle class origins and many took the view that it did not matter if one treated the children of the poor differently from the those whose parents were better off, parents with whom the teachers could more easily identify. This was relevant from the foundation of the primary school system in the 19th century, though it began to change gradually in the 1960s and with the introduction of free education. It is questionable what a five-year, costly Government inquiry, which will divert financial and personnel resources from the educational budget, will achieve. If the net of inquiries of past abuses continues to be widened, will a point of closure ever be reached? We know that abuse happens in families. Will future governments trawl through every family in the land so that every child who was ever abused in any setting is going to have a voice? [ 'I'm angry that my abuse as a child does not count' – State must pay for school sexual abuse Opens in new window ] Minister for Education Helen McEntee said institutions and religious orders involved in historical sex abuse in schools will be "held accountable" for the "awful" crimes. Photograph: Cate McCurry/ PA Wire Presumably the inquiry will identify those who allege abuse. Will it then have the task of assessing the truth of any allegation? Will it presume that all allegations are true? There is the question of natural justice, whereby the accused has the right of reply to his/ her accuser. Having verified whether an allegation is credible (and there is a difference between credibility and truth) there is the question of who will bear the cost of redress. And we need to ask ourselves, and those who represent us in Government, if 'giving a voice' actually brings healing. It may – but being the public voice that represents all those who suffered could also serve to lock one into the hurt. Tánaiste Simon Harris has insisted that the religious organisations will have to pay and the Opposition are adamant that they have 'got away' with not paying. Religious organisations have already paid some money and handed over buildings. There has not been any calculation of the money and salaries that wereploughed back into schools. This might be as immeasurable as the degree of abuse. The reality of child abuse within and without the churches has been revealed and openly debated for the past 30 years. It has shattered the institution of the Catholic Church and, in many ways, has been as transformative as the Reformation was in the 16th century. The credibility of the Church of Rome has been marred, possibly beyond repair. But there may come a point where we are in danger of ignoring present abuses in favour of scrutiny of the past. Finally, questions must be raised about school management. The greater number of our schools are under the management of the Catholic Church. The pay back in terms of church practice and adult belief seem minimal. The passing on of faith is primarily the role of the family. This is the time for the Catholic hierarchy to hand back the schools to the State. Margaret Lee is a retired Principal Social Worker with experience in Child and Family Services, as well as on Child Protection Committee.
