Fine Gael councillor didn't declare 50% stake in firm accused of charging nurses unlawful fees
In 2022, 2023, and 2024 Pereppadan failed to disclose his interest in Angel Care Consultancy Limited. The councillor has denied knowledge of nurses being charged additional fees and said that he was not involved in the daily operations of the company.
For a period of time in 2022-2023 he was also a director, which he has also not declared. Councillor Pereppadan was appointed director in November 2022 and resigned in May of the following year.
Pereppadan told
The Journal
earlier this month that he had been offered 'a 50% shareholding' in the company as a gesture of goodwill after assisting in some of the early administration aspects of the company in 2021.
He has not responded to questions on why he did not declare his directorship and a 50% shareholding in the company.
The Journal Investigates
last week reported
on the councillor's interest in the company and that he is a former director of the recruitment agency. The company has been accused of charging three migrant nurses thousands of euros in agency fees on top of their standard costs, as part of their recruitment to work in an Irish nursing home.
One of these nurses claims she was directed to pay the equivalent of €3,000 directly into the bank account of Britto Pereppadan, Baby's son, who is also a Fine Gael councillor in Tallaght, and a hospital doctor.
Britto Pereppadan does not have any shares in Angel Care and he is not formally associated with the company.
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He has said that the payment of €3,000 was made to him for a personal debt by another co-founder of the company, businessman Babu Valooran Kochuvarkey.
These kinds of agency fees are not allowed under Irish employment law, under rules that are designed to stop people from profiting directly from those seeking work.
Fine Gael reserving judgement
Since the article was published on Friday, People Before Profit and Sinn Féin TDs have called on Fine Gael to launch an investigation into the councillors, and a complaint has been made to the South Dublin County Council Ethics Registrar.
The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) clearly sets out in its code of conduct for councillors that they must furnish the Ethics Registrar of their council with an annual declaration of their interests, including financial, property, and business interests.
Records show that Baby Pereppadan reported no company directorships or shareholdings in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Baby Pereppadan was a director in Angel Care from 22 November 2022 until 19 May 2023.
When he resigned his daughter, a 22-year-old dentistry student, was appointed as director.
Baby Pereppadan has said that his daughter's involvement was 'nominal' and 'administrative' and that she has not had any involvement in running the company.
In response to a series of questions, Baby Pereppadan said that he did not know anything about agency fees being charged to the three nurses.
'I have no knowledge of the allegations regarding agency fees being charged to nurses, and I am shocked to learn of these claims, should they be true. I have had no involvement in the day-to-day activities of the company, nor was I made aware of any extra fees being levied,' Baby Pereppadan said in an initial response to
The Journal Investigates
.
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Fine Gael councillor co-owns company accused of charging migrant nurses unlawful 'agency fees'
He also said that he was given a 50% ownership stake in the company as a gesture of goodwill from Valooran, the other co-founder.
Fine Gael response
Baby Pereppadan's business partner businessman Babu Valooran Kochuvarkey has claimed that nurses had full knowledge of the fees that they paid, and that the two sums of just over €3,000 and one sum of €3,600 that were charged to the three nurses were expenses related. Mr Valooran said that he would further engage with one nurse who had requested a refund of additional fees.
The three nurses have told
The Journal
that these were lump sum agency fees that they were asked to pay at the outset of their recruitment, and that they themselves paid for expenses including accommodation in Dublin during their examination period and transport in cash; they have also provided documentation which appears to support their claims.
Britto Pereppadan has claimed that his father's business partner, Babu Valooran Kochuvarkey, had owed him a sum of money, which he paid to him, and that he didn't know how it was obtained.
Asked for a response to the revelations in the article last Friday, a spokesperson for Fine Gael said that Councillor Baby Pereppadan had himself made the party aware of the piece.
Yesterday at a press conference Tánaiste and party leader Simon Harris said that he is going to 'reserve judgement' on the matters covered in the article until he is provided with clarifications by the Pereppadans.
Asked if he planned to take action on any of the revelations Harris said: 'I understand that the councillors are disputing some of that and are currently seeking legal advice, and my party headquarters has sought more information from them in relation to that and I await the outcome of that.'
When pressed on whether Fine Gael would investigate further the Tánaiste said that the two councillors 'will provide my party headquarters with more information and I will wait until I have all the facts'.
'Once I have all the facts, I will make a judgement then,' Harris added.
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