The Irish gardia plans to despatch five police officers to Australia to extradite an Irish ex-solicitor wanted for an alleged $50,000 offence committed 12 years ago.
Vincent O'Donoghue, who's wanted on suspicion of obtaining property by deception to the tune of $50k, has been living in Australia since 2002. He was questioned about the offence in Dublin back in 2001 but was released before emigrating to Australia, according to an Irish Independent report. An extradition warrant for his arrest was issued in 2005 and in 2009 he was taken into custody in Perth, where he's been ever since.
And the former lawyer turned high-flying property dealer, who has no criminal record, is none too pleased. He's dismissed the police escort party as a bit of a jolly and reckons they should be scooping up greedy bankers back home and not focussing their attention on him. "They're sending this posse on a junket to collect me at a huge cost to the taxpayers, when they won't go down the street and arrest any of the fat cat bankers who have brought Ireland to its knees."
The charges against O'Donoghue relate to alleged property transactions in the 1990s, where it's claimed that he took deposits for property he wasn't entitled to sell. And whilst he admits taking the deposits - which he says amounted to no more than $30k - O'Donoghue insists that he did not retain the money. He maintains that the charges against him are political and that he will not get a fair trial in Ireland because of the time that's elapsed since the deals.
And so far round one seems to have gone in O'Donoghue's favour as he has obtained an injunction preventing his extradition, pending a further hearing, on the basis that the Irish warrant is not valid.
Tip Off ROF
Vincent O'Donoghue, who's wanted on suspicion of obtaining property by deception to the tune of $50k, has been living in Australia since 2002. He was questioned about the offence in Dublin back in 2001 but was released before emigrating to Australia, according to an Irish Independent report. An extradition warrant for his arrest was issued in 2005 and in 2009 he was taken into custody in Perth, where he's been ever since.
And the former lawyer turned high-flying property dealer, who has no criminal record, is none too pleased. He's dismissed the police escort party as a bit of a jolly and reckons they should be scooping up greedy bankers back home and not focussing their attention on him. "They're sending this posse on a junket to collect me at a huge cost to the taxpayers, when they won't go down the street and arrest any of the fat cat bankers who have brought Ireland to its knees."
 |
Some Irish police officers working on extradition proceedings yesterday |
The charges against O'Donoghue relate to alleged property transactions in the 1990s, where it's claimed that he took deposits for property he wasn't entitled to sell. And whilst he admits taking the deposits - which he says amounted to no more than $30k - O'Donoghue insists that he did not retain the money. He maintains that the charges against him are political and that he will not get a fair trial in Ireland because of the time that's elapsed since the deals.
And so far round one seems to have gone in O'Donoghue's favour as he has obtained an injunction preventing his extradition, pending a further hearing, on the basis that the Irish warrant is not valid.