Solicitor suspended following probe into mortgages
The High Court has suspended a solicitor and frozen his accounts after a Law Society committee decided that he is guilty of dishonesty and misconduct.
The court heard that the Law Society's complaints and client relations committee, which considers complaints against solicitors, made the decision arising out of solicitor Eamon Comiskey's alleged "systemic practice" of failing to use money received from the sale of houses to discharge mortgages affecting the properties.
Yesterday the Law Society claimed that Mr Comiskey had been giving the sale proceeds of properties to the vendors, and leaving the buyer with an undischarged mortgage on the title.
Mr Justice Eamon de Valera, following an application by the Law Society, granted orders including freezing the bank accounts of Eamon P Comiskey & Co, solicitors, of Ballycarnan, Portlaoise, Co Laois.
The orders also prevent Mr Comiskey from disposing of any assets in his possession or within his procurement.
The court made further orders including suspending Mr Comiskey's practising certificate, and that he hand over all his records and files and the keys of his offices to the Law Society.
Mr Comiskey did not attend yesterday's hearing, and the court noted that he had expressed "a disinterest" in attending the proceedings which he had been made aware of. Paul Anthony McDermott, for the Law Society, said it was seeking the order as a result of complaints made against the solicitor.
Counsel said that in one of the complaints, Mr Comiskey gave a written assurance that a court judgment did not effect a property purchased. However, that assurance turned out to be incorrect.
Counsel said that in addition to allegations that Mr Comiskey was not discharging mortgages, it was also claimed that no purchase money at all seemed to be going through his client accounts, and yet he seemed to be giving undertakings in respect of the transactions to discharge mortgages from the said purchase money.
Transaction
Counsel said it appeared that undertakings to discharge the mortgages are being done by Mr Comiskey, but not from funds received in respect of the transaction in question but with other funds.
Counsel said that this allegation is known as "teaming and lading of the books".
The court also heard that a solicitor who carried out an inspection on behalf of the committee of Mr Comiskey's files, at his office which he runs from his family home, described his records as being a "jumble of papers, that were so mixed up it was difficult to establish which correspondence related to which transaction". Mr Justice de Valera made the matter returnable to next week.
- Aodhan O'Faolain
