Gardaí in Dublin are still trying to trace the whereabouts of over £40,000 that went missing after an alleged fraud was uncovered at the Chief State Solicitors’ Office in Dublin. The office provides solicitors services for the state and operates under the auspices of the Office of the Attorney General. One man is facing 78 charges in connection with the incident and has been sent forward for trial before the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. It is almost two years since the former Chief State Solicitor Michael Buckley called in the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation to investigate a number of alleged financial irregularities in his office.
The office is a major part of the legal arm of the state and it was a serious cause for concern that it found itself at the centre of a fraud investigation. Under the auspices of the Attorney General, the Chief State solicitor's office provides solicitor services for the State such as conveyancing in the case of the sale of the seized property Clashnacree House. It also prosecutes for the State at District Court level and it administers the Free Legal Aid system, processing and paying solicitors for people who cannot afford to defend themselves in court. Following a detailed and painstaking investigation, that involved tracing cheques and examining the bank records of a Dublin pub, the fraud investigators established that almost £60,000 had gone missing. Attorney General Michael McDowell was informed, staff were interviewed and it was discovered all the money went missing from one department. The investigation still has to establish where all the money went because although the Gardaí have traced around £18,000, over £40,000 is still missing.
