There were 22 criminal convictions secured last year for breaches of the Companies Act, according to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
In its annual report for 2014, the office said that the bulk of those (19) were secured in the District Court.
It also said that – as part of a strategic shift towards indictable cases – its work had also contributed to the prosecution of two separate cases in the Circuit Criminal Court.
This included the trial of Pat Whelan and William McAteer in relation to their involvement in Anglo Irish Bank.
The ODCE, which works to ensure compliance with company law in Ireland, said that six individuals were disqualified from being directors last year following applications by the office to the High Court.
It said it had also contributed to the disqualification of a further 16 company directors on foot of applications made by liquidators, with restrictions put in place for 177 others.
The ODCE said that it had also ensured compliance with company law in relation to directors’ loans with a total value of around €66m.
It had also dealt with people purporting to act as statutory auditors whilst not qualified to do so, as well as cases where proper records of companies’ financial affairs had not been properly maintained.
The office said it had running costs of €3m during 2014, which was down 4% year-on-year.
It had 40 employees in total, including a number of members of An Garda Síochána who were on secondment in the office.
