Donegal businessman Jim Ferry has agreed to a forensic accountant being given access to financial documents relating to his defunct waste collection business that are held by Letterkenny gardaí.
In the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Max Barrett granted orders to Donegal County Council giving it access to the papers, with the consent of Mr Ferry and his partner Ms Carol Eliot.
The court heard that the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) had raided premises associated with Mr Ferry and had taken documents.
However, financial statements and records of clients of Mr Ferry’s waste collection business were held by gardaí at Letterkenny station and not the CAB in Dublin.
The Irish Times reports that the council has been trying to find out where money went that Mr Ferry, who was in court, collected from customers to dispose of rubbish legally.
Ferry has admitted dumping tens of thousands of tons of waste illegally on an 11-acre site at Rossbracken, east of the Donegal town.
The council estimates that the clean-up cost of the site will be between €4.5 million and €5.8m and that money collected by Mr Ferry from his customers should be retrieved to fund this.
Richard Lyons, SC for the council, said a forensic accountant retained by the council had completed an interim report on Mr Ferry’s finances but needed a court order to get access to the documents to complete his work.
Francis Treanor, for Mr Ferry, did not contest the application, which Mr Justice Barrett granted and adjourned the case until March 26th.