He returned after nearly nine months when he pleaded with the court not to commit him to jail and agreed to co-operate with the council’s investigation.On Tuesday, the court heard Mr Ferry had failed to co-operate with a forensic accountant employed by the council to investigate what happened to money made by his businesses.
He refused to properly address his involvement in a pub called the Millridge Bar in Kilmacrenan, Donegal, his involvement in horses and the running of two cash books in the business, the accountant said. For the year 2015 alone, some €313,000 was under declared by the use of the dual cash book system.
Richard Lyons SC, for the council, said there was now no point in continuing to use the coercive power of the court to get Mr Ferry to cooperate. It was now necessary to impose the punitive sanction of jail. “There will be little served by turning the screw any more to try to get to the bottom of where the money went”, counsel said.Eanna Mulloy SC, for Mr Ferry, said fair procedures demanded that his client’s expert accountant be given the same opportunity to examine the paperwork looked at by the council’s forensic accountant. This included material held by the gardai in Letterkenny, Donegal.