Ireland – Refuge for world's white collar criminals?

I see Jeff Skilling of Enron has been sentenced to 24 years in jail for his part in the fraud that bankrupted the company. It’s always interesting to see how real democracies enforce their laws.

Skilling was refused bail, was fitted with an electronic tag and will go to jail in about 90 days – for what is, effectively, a life sentence. Former employees were allowed to address the court (and Skilling) about the impact of his crimes. Here’s how one such employee expressed herself.

“Mr. Skilling has proven to be a liar, a thief and a drunk, flaunting an attitude above the law. He has betrayed everyone who has trusted him. Shame on me for believing the management of Enron,”

Ken Lay was also due for sentencing with Skilling but he died in the meantime and his case was dropped. It can be seen from the Enron trials that the Americans know what white collar crime is and how to deal with the disease.

In Ireland, it is likely that Skilling would have been awarded entrepreneur of the year and poor old ‘Kenny boy’ would probably have been granted a state funeral with a tearful oration by our Prime Minister.

Indeed, I think Ireland is missing out on a golden opportunity here. The country is obviously a justice free zone for thieving bankers, solicitors, politicians and all kinds of other dodgy ‘white collar’ characters (The law is, of course, fully enforced on wayward peasants).

The Government should officially declare the country a refuge for the world’s white collar criminals. They would, of course, have to comply with the old Irish tradition of ‘donating’ a percentage of their ill gotten gains to ‘certain parties’.

In return, they would be guanteed immunity and in the unlikely event of actually getting caught doing something dodgy, they would simply be referred to one of the never ending tribunals.

There they could happily live out the rest of their lives relating fantasy tales to entertain all those wayward peasants who actually do time for their crimes.

Incompetence and carnage

For many years there has been carnage on Irish roads, the worst record in Europe. Politicians have failed miserably to solve the problem.

Why, one can reasonably ask is Ireland almost unique in the world in its inability to tackle this problem.

The following stripped down interview by Pat Kenny of the Minister for Transport will provide some hint

Minister – On the latest deaths. “The Road Safety Authority is going to present proposals for tough new restrictions on young drivers. Clearly, the licencing regime, the training needs to be substantially changed…”

Pat – We still have provisional drivers driving alone – shouldn’t we be enforcing the law like other countries?

Minister – Well, you are absolutely right; we need to change the regime entirely. Minister then gives examples of how other countries dealt with such problems.

Pat – In Northern Ireland they have a policy of restricting young drivers after their test.

Minister – And we will have to do the same…

Pat – What about the back log of people waiting for testing… problems with driver information…

Minister – …I mean the system we have in Ireland is simply not adequate

Pat – But the system needs to be reformed..

Minister – Well, that’s what Noel (Brett, CSO of the National Roads Authority ) is coming back to me with.. ending of backlog will allow the introduction of an entirely new licencing regime.

Pat – …size of engine, limit car speeds…

Minister – well Noel and I were talking about this and it’s one of the issues we’re working at…

Pat – Garda resources deployed more intelligently…instead of shooting fish in a barrel..

Minister – Well, I think they’re going to do that… that situation is going to change quite dramatically.

Pat – Local authorities granting planning along motorways turning them into suburbs, especially the M50

Minister – Well, it (M50) did become a commuter road but it was never designed for that… who could have foreseen that would happen? We’re doing a feasibility study on a huge orbital from Drogheda to Kildare (Feck – from Drogheda to Kildare???)

Pat – …would have to insist that local authorities would not build on it…

Minister – …That’s why we have given the National Roads Authority the role in planning…they are taking a very strong line on a lot of the new roads around the country.

This kind of ribbon development is not going to happen any more. Unfortunate about the M50…but that development is also needed (ribbon development along motorways), jobs, companies want to be close to their markets…conflicts to be resolved…

Minister Cullen has been in the job for two years, the Government has been in power for nearly ten years.

Lithuania, a country that gained its independence only a few years ago also suffered from a serious road safety problem. They trained and resourced a proper traffic police force and sent them out to deal with the idiots and killers.

In one year the death rate was reduce by half. Irish citizens are still waiting (After decades) for this simple but effective action. All we get is waffle – meanwhile the carnage continues.

Deadly ignorance

Hardly a day passes in Ireland without some new report of corruption or gross incompetence usually in the Government/public administration sectors.

Whether it’s Government ministers prostituting State offices for monetary gain, public servants robbing and abusing the elderly, so called State regulatory bodies pathetically failing to even make an effort at doing their jobs or just ordinary everyday criminal negligence, the response is always the same – Denial, excuses, blaming somebody else. Never, ever, will you witness these so called State servants actually taking responsibility.

The latest example of this never ending stream of incompetence and corruption broke yesterday. Up to a hundred children were put at risk of contacting Hepatitis C between 1991 and 1994 because of inadequate screening.

To date nobody has accepted responsibility, this is normal in our banana republic. The hospital has claimed it did not have funding for proper screening, the Dept of Health have said they never received requests for funding. Making excuses, blaming somebody else is normal in our banana republic.

The hospital knew nine months ago but kept the whole thing hushed up because they claim they wanted to first make a list of all those put at risk. I personally do not believe this. Secrecy is the greatest weapon of the corrupt and incompetent, especially when that secrecy is encouraged by the State itself. If the media had not uncovered this latest scandal it is likely the hospital would have kept the whole thing secret.

As always, it was not a so called State regulatory body that uncovered the scandal. In almost all cases Irish State authorities will cover up corruption and incompetence. It was the media (RTE News) that informed the public. In this banana republic the media, along with a few courageous whistleblowers, is the only source of corruption exposure.

A bill going through our irrelevant and incompetent parliament is set to clamp down on such media exposes. In addition to this latest muzzle on media investigation the State is also planning to give itself the power to close down tribunals of investigation.

In the recent polls, a majority of citizens said they did not think that our Prime Minister should resign because he took money from businessmen while he held a senior ministry.

These people are politically ignorant. They cannot (or will not) see the connection between corrupt politicians/State officials and the enormous damage this corruption eventually does to every level of society.

They cannot see that their ignorance can kill their fellow citizens.

Electronic law enforcement

It was obvious, as I approached the checkout, that all was not well. A woman, aged about 30/35, was arguing with the checkout girl. She wanted to purchase a six pack of beer but a digital message on the till displayed a stark and unbending message – “Alcohol sales prohibited” or words to that effect.

It was just two minutes after 11.00pm and despite the anger of the customer and the apologies of the checkout girl, the machine was not for changing. I tentatively proffered my six pack of non alcoholic beer but that too was rejected by the machine.

I wondered, as the burley security man cordoned off the alcohol section with a Berlin Wall type fence, why consumers could buy anything they wished in this massive 24/7 supermarket but not alcohol after certain hours.

I wondered why the owners and State authorities could not bang their heads together and allow adults to buy a couple of beers or a bottle of wine at 11.01pm or even 4 in the morning if they so wished.

Last Christmas, I witnessed an even more chaotic situation. At about five minutes to ‘closing time’ in this supermarket that never closes, there was an announcement –

“Anyone wishing to purchase alcohol should proceed immediately to a checkout.”

At least one hundred customers, manoeuvring trolley’s heavily laden with Christmas shopping looked at each other in disbelief before rushing helter skelter for the nearest checkout.

Pandemonium ensued as customers fought desperately to join the shortest queue, some even engaged in frantic negotiations with non alcoholic carrying customers in their efforts to beat the ruthless till.

One husband/wife team did manage to purchase about half of their Christmas booze before the till cut them off. Working with military precision, the wife ruthlessly ejected all items of a non alcoholic nature, clearing the way for the husband to throw as many crates and bottles as possible at a delicate checkout girl who was on the verge of abandoning her post in panic.

Sadly, few others succeeded in beating the electronic alcohol sentry and an air of despair descended over the would be Christmas revelers as this machine enforced what can only be described as an idiotic law.

I wonder what would happen if every pub and club in the country was subject to the same strict enforcement – revolution?

Consequences of corruption

The recent polls in favour of Fianna Fail and Bertie Ahern are depressing but they are in no way surprising. A majority felt that Bertie was wrong to take the money but because he’s such a good Taoiseach, he should remain in office.

This kind of double think is exactly what can be expected of a population who has lived in a corrupt state all their lives. The economy is strong, the Opposition is weak and the incident happened years ago so why rock the boat?

In the short term, this reasoning makes sense but in the long term it is very damaging. When people fail to demand high standards from their leaders they will get low standards, and sooner or later, they (or other citizens) will suffer the consequences.

Some of the consequences of Bertiegate are as follows:

Irish politicians can now openly appoint their friends to State boards. This kind of cronyism is ethically and legally unacceptable in most democracies.

Irish politicians can now openly accept large amounts of money from friends and businessmen. Obviously, politicians in senior ministerial positions will attract larger payments. Again, this kind of graft is totally unacceptable in real democracies.

It is now unacceptable to questions Irish politicians about their finances if those finances are connected to personal/family events. This new situation provides an ideal channel for corrupt politicians to secrete bribes/payments/gifts from prying eyes.

Irish politicians from other parties will now become even more reluctant to tackle the disease of corruption. Brutal pragmatism will force them to accept even lower standards in their increasingly desperate desire for high office.

There are, of course, many other consequences resulting from Irish corruption and criminal incompetence ranging from the theft of billions to dysfunctional administration to the actual death of some citizens.

Bank robbers and bank robbers

Three Romanians were recently jailed for four years for what a Garda called “a sophisticated and nasty fraud”. The gang had conspired to rob bank customers by skimming ATM cards and stealing the customer’s money.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation became involved in the case after several banks complained. Eventually, the thieves were arrested and brought to court where they were found guilty and appropriate justice was dispensed.

There is nothing unusual about this case. A group of people got together and devised a system that enabled them to rob bank customers of their hard earned money. When they were caught, the State took strong and immediate action. Any self respecting country would be seen as deficient if it failed to take such action against bank robbers.

Yet, Ireland is such a country. Groups of people in Allied Irish Banks and National Irish Bank got together and devised a system that enabled them to rob, not just their own customers, but the State as well.

These fraudsters robbed millions over many years and when they were caught, the State took no action against them. They were merely asked to pay back the money robbed. The Financial Regulator refers to this well planned fraud, operated over many years as “improper charging of interest and fees” (Annual Report, page 36).

Many Irish citizens are under the impression that such crimes could not happen today because the Financial Regulator is there to protect the interests of consumers.

Wrong, the Financial Regulator has one overriding mission – to protect the financial institutions, usually at the expense of ordinary consumers.

Let me give you an example. Recently, I asked the Regulator for a list of all financial institutions that were guilty of robbing or ‘overcharging’ consumers in the last two years. This is a perfectly reasonable request and critical for those assessing the credentials of a financial institution before deciding to open an account.

They ignored my email. When I insisted, they referred my query to their Press Office who referred me to page 35/36 of their Annual Report where I found brief mention of fraudulent cases already in the public realm.

In other words, the information I requested is treated as a State secret. This policy of secrecy coupled with the absolute refusal of the so called regulator to punish wrong doing in the financial sector creates an environment of great benefit for the financial institutions and puts consumers at a serious disadvantage.

Catching up on corruption

With everybody following the Bertiegate affair over the last few weeks, it is easy to miss out on the usual fare of corruption and incompetence. The following is a brief list of just some to the events that may have been overlooked.

A cost overrun of at least €13 million on Dublin’s integrated ticketing system for public transport. The Comptroller and Auditor General said he was “disappointed but not surprised”. I know the feeling.

The Government has allocated most of Wednesday and Thursday to fast-track the Tribunal of Inquiry Bill. Clearly, politicians have had enough of the very limited accountability that from time to time arises from tribunal investigations. The killing off of the tribunals and the upcoming Privacy Bill will practically close down any kind of investigation into political/business corruption.

The Health Service Executive has, so far, succeeded in preventing the publication of a report into Leas Cross nursing home. Prof Des O’Neill, who carried out the investigation, insists that the report is complete but the HSE disagrees. This is a common strategy, delay or stop publication of reports until the case is forgotten or has lost all relevance.

Revenue has announced its latest amnesty. Ireland is the only country in the world that collects tax by amnesty. This is how it works – Revenue decides to target a particular group for tax inspection, in this instance, the legal profession. It informs all concerned of its intentions and offers an amnesty to any tax criminals within the group. Meanwhile, ordinary tax compliant citizens continue to pay the full amount with no special offers. All other countries, of course, just enforce tax laws.

THE Competition Authority is to carry out a second investigation into the proposed acquisition of Weyerhaeuser Europe by state-owned forestry firm Coillte. – I know nothing about this particular one, but it looks dodgy.

Slowly but surely the so called Financial Regulator continues to be exposed for the sham organisation it really is. The Consultative consumer panel, a body apparently set up to monitor the performance of Ifsra claims that the regulator is “slow to respond to consumer issues”. While this is a major understatement, it at least indicates that somebody else is beginning to realise that the Financial Regulator has just one mission – the protection of financial institutions at the expense of ordinary consumers.

I

It has been decided, not by the police, not by the law of the land, not by the so called Financial Regulator but by Allied Irish Banks, that, after an investigation into themselves, they are to take no disciplinary action against staff who for years were deliberately ‘overcharging’ customers on foreign exchange fees. This is a case that I will be returning to very soon for deeper analysis.

Bugging interview rooms

I touched on this subject back in April, when at the time I wondered why the Irish media seemed to be asleep at the wheel when it came to the significance of the allegations John White had made concerning garda bugging of interview rooms.

Six months later, the Sunday Independent leads with a story concerning the allegations. I’ll quote the whole lot to save you registering.

SENIOR gardai sanctioned the bugging of solicitors, a priest and relatives of prisoners held in garda stations, the Sunday Independent has learned.

Details of the systematic use of eavesdropping equipment emerged following reports that a bug was installed in Letterkenny Garda Station to listen in on conversations between members of the McBrearty family, between periods of interrogation, in December 1996.

One of the detectives involved in the McBrearty case, Det Sgt John White, has made a statement to the Morris inquiry outlining the common use of such techniques.

In his statement, he names several senior gardai, retired and serving, who he said sanctioned the illicit eavesdropping. White’s claims have been supported by other detectives who say the practice was carried out regularly in major investigations.

He said the quipment was a “Nagra” recorder, manufactured by the Swiss electronics firm, Kudelski, which specialises in security and listening equipment. White said that the buggings were most commonly used in cases where the prisoners were not serious criminals or subversives. Professional criminals and IRA members were least likely to discuss matters of interest to investigators.

He also claimed he came across bugging about 50 to 60 times during his period of service in the Murder Squad between 1980 and 1994.

He said the secret information was never discussed at major investigation conferences, where between 20 and 40 gardai might be present, but at “mini conferences” of between five and 10 officers.

The most common question at these meetings, he said, was, “Anything from the tapes?” and the answer would usually be given by a detective superintendent or detective inspector.

He had never heard the detectives raise concerns about the practice. He said there was little cognizance given to conversations with solicitors whose advice to clients – in what should under law have been private – invariably involved advice not to answer any more questions.

He said: “I cannot remember any earth-shattering revelations being made by prisoners to their solicitors.”

White, who was acquitted last July of planting a shotgun in a travellers’ site in Donegal, in 2001, but who was subsequently criticised in three reports of the Morris tribunal, said that during his time as a detective the process of bugging prisoners’ private conversation was called “boxing”.

He said: “Officers and members, including myself, believed that we were entitled to use covert recording equipment in the struggle against crimes of murder and other very serious crimes.

“It was not a case of being entitled to do so by law, but on the assumption that the equipment would not harm any innocent person and that the persons being listened to were either persons who had committed a very serious criminal act or were murderers.

“It was quite clear that this system could not have operated for so many years without the knowledge and approval of the most senior authority within An Garda Siochana. This system of covert recording was being used as a tool by detectives, in an effort to solve crime, and while it could not be regarded by any member of An Garda Siochana as being lawful, it was not regarded by those aware of its existence as being morally wrong.

“I heard many times the phrase ‘to box them’ being used by officers and members in relation to the covert recording of meetings between prisoners and other prisoners, and between prisoners and visitors. This was a reference to placing the respective parties together in a room that was bugged.”

Det Sgt White also said that while he had no documentation on the recordings, there should be in existence – “if they have not been destroyed” – written requests from divisional and district offices for the listening equipment.

He said these forms were known as A 85 and A 13.

He said that two retired detectives stated that they had reported allegations of recordings to their authorities, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, and the Morris tribunal, in writing. They informed me that their superiors had not taken the matter seriously and that they believed a proper investigation was not undertaken and that the matter was being covered up by the Garda Authorities.”

Why it took six months I don’t know. But the seriousness of White’s allegations are the same now as they were six months ago. The mini-module relating to the bugging will begin at either the end of November or early in the new year. The repurcussions of it could be huge. The tribunal has listed the following people to appear in relation to the bugging mini-module:

Detective Sergeant John White

Garda John Dooley

John Fitzgerald

Joseph Shelly

John McGinley

Sergeant Joseph Costello

Denis Fitzpatrick

Detective Chief Superintendent Austin McNally

Paudge Dorrian

Garda Tina Fowley

James Sweeney

John Costello

Superintendent James Paul Sharpe

Lucky Bertie

Bertie Ahern is an incredibly lucky politician. He’s lucky because he has friends who gave him a substantial loan and didn’t ask for any repayment. If this ‘loan’ had been a gift, Bertie would have been in trouble.

He’s lucky because he has the ability to be Minister for Finance in one instant and a private citizens the next. This amazing ability allowed him to take a substantial ‘gift’ from a group of businessmen that he hardly knew. If it had been a political donation, he would have been in trouble.

He’s lucky because one of the few people Bertie can remember being at the event where he got the ‘gift’ was not actually at the event. Well, he was at the event but because he didn’t eat a dinner he is deemed not to have been there – if you get my drift.

Yes, he is a friend of Bertie’s and he is a businessman but luckily for Bertie, he was just there as a minibus driver, and again luckily for Bertie, he denies making a contribution on that night.

Bertie is also lucky that at a time when he claims he was financially strapped for cash, and therefore badly needed gifts and loans, he was able to make frequent overseas trips to see his favourite football team, save about €64,000 and pay all the expenses of everyday life.

He’s lucky because for a crucial 6 year period, when there was a lot of skullduggery going on in Irish public life, he claims he had no bank account. This means that his enemies and those nasty people over in Dublin Castle are very limited in checking his financial activities. For example, that €64,000 he saved while being virtually penniless, well, he just stuffed it into a mattress I suppose.

On a broader level, he’s lucky to be a member of a party whose members are totally loyal to its leader no matter what he does, no matter how strong the stink.

He’s lucky that his coalition partner have dumped their core value of demanding accountability in public life and finally he’s lucky that he lives in a country where corruption is so widespread that most citizens are not even aware that Bertie is as dodgy as his mentor and hero, Charlie Haughey – Shure isn’t he doing great tings for da country?

For the record, the latest scandal has officially legitimized the following activities.

Politicians appointing persons to State boards can now openly state that they are doing so because he/she is a friend. Of course, political friends have always been rewarded with such appointments but it was never permitted to actually admit that fact.

Government ministers can now accept large amounts of cash from friends/businessmen and avoid censure by simply declaring that they did not consider themselves to be a Government minister at the particular moment when the cash was handed over.

Welcome to the Banana Republic of Ireland

Bertiegate – Depressing reality

Let me be absolutely clear about this – In my opinion, Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland is a corrupt politician. He signed books of blank cheques for the corrupt politician, Charlie Haughey. Haughey then spent this money, which belonged to the people of Ireland, for his own benefit.

As Minister for Finance in 1993/94 Ahern accepted €124,000 from friends and businessmen for his own benefit. He kept this fact secret until he was found out. He did not pay back the so called loans until yesterday. He has only repaid the monies because the scandal threatens to destroy his political career.

Everything else about this latest scandal in Irish public life is irrelevant. Everything else surrounding this scandal is a perfect example of how the Irish as a nation are simply unable to face the reality that they live in a corrupt state.

Today’s Liveline was a deeply, deeply depressing example of that denial. Labour party member and comedian Brendan O’Carroll made a very strong defence of the corrupt Ahern. His central (and depressing) point was that the acceptance of the money by Ahern was strictly a private matter. That Ahern, just like any other citizen, was entitled to financial help from his friends when he was in marital difficulties.

In other words, O’Carroll is ok with the idea of a senior politician secretly accepting huge amounts of money from friends and businessmen. We also have to assume (depressingly) that O’Carroll accepts that the corrupt politician Haughey was entitled to accept the millions he got from AIB, Ben Dunne and many others to help him sort out his personal financial problems – the fact that Haughey/Ahern was a TD, Minister or Prime Minister, is, apparently, irrelevant.

The always (in my opinion) depressing Nell Mccafferty droned on endlessly about feminism – also completely irrelevant to Ahern’s corruption. Most other callers, with the exception of one woman and an Englishman, demonstrated clearly that they have no understanding whatsoever of either what a corrupt act is or the fact that they actually live in a corrupt state.

Tomorrow, it is likely we will witness the final act in this latest scandal/farce when the Progressive Democrats extinguish their final scrap of political integrity in exchange for a few more months of power. It’s all so, so depressing.