THERE WAS "grave deception afoot from the beginning", a High Court Judge stated after finding Sligo accountant Kenneth Mcmoreland had fraudulently misrepresented the sale of the 85-acre former Saehan Media site at Hazelwood.

Mcmoreland had induced brothers, Arthur, Kieran and John Grady to invest €2.4m in Foresthaze Developments Ltd., believing the purchase price was €11.5 million, unaware of the original sale for €9.85 million.

The original deposit of €1m including costs, was made up by €200,000 from Gerry Healy, €100,000 each from Ray Macsharry Sr., Ray Macsharry Jr., and Damien Torsney, and €500,000 from Mr. Mcmoreland.

In explaining "the windfall" from the subsale, Mcmoreland "came up with the idea they had got a discount because of chemical contamination of the site." A SLIGO ACCOUNTANT deliberately deceived three brothers over a deal to sell the former Saehan Media site at Hazelwood to a company of which former EU Commissioner Ray Macsharry was chairman, the High Court in Dublin has found.

Judge Sean Ryan ruled that accountant Kenneth Mcmoreland, acting with the authority of his partners in the accountancy firm Gilroy Gannon, induced Arthur, Kieran and John Grady by deliberate fraudulent misrepresentation to invest €2.4m in Foresthaze Developments Ltd to buy the site on the shores of Lough Gill, on which the historic Hazelwood House is sited.

In April 2006 Mcmoreland learned that the 85-acre Hazelewood site was available for possible purchase and he put together a consortium of local investors to back the project. A contract of sale was signed and the price was €9,850,000. The investors proceeded to use a company called Foresthaze Development Ltd which was incorporated on July 17th 2006.

The land was subsequently sold to the company for €11.5 million which would make an immediate profit for the promoters. A sum of €2.4 million was susequently advanced by the plaintiffs, the Gradys. The three brothers, from Charlestown, and their company TJ Grady Ltd sued over their agreement in September 2006, via a loan from their company, to invest €2.4m in Foresthaze to buy the site.

Unknown to the Gradys, a contract for the €9.85m sale of the lands to a solicitor in trust for Mr. Mcmoreland and quantity surveyor Jackie Mcmahon, acting on behalf of a consortium of investors, had been signed earlier, in April 2006.

The investors incorporated Foresthaze in July 2006 and it was later decided to sell the lands to Foresthaze for €11.5m. The funding shortfall was eventually obtained from the Gradys on foot of fraudulent representations by Mr. Mcmoreland, including that the purchase price was €11.5m and that the vendor was Saehan, the former South Korean video tape manufacturer that had previously owned the site.

The Gradys made the €2.4m available on October 26th 2006. The next day, the sale for the original contract price of €9.85m was completed, plus the subsale to Foresthaze for €11.5m, with the Gradys having been unaware of the subsale arrangement.

Mr. Mcmoreland later joined Ray Macsharry Snr., Ray Macsharry Jnr., and Senator Marc Macsharry as third parties to the case, as well as Gerard Healy, Kevinsfort Ltd, Castle Street, Sligo; Damien Torsney, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin; and Edward and Jacqueline Donaghy, Castletown, Drumcliffe.

Mr. Justice Ryan adjourned to February 29th issues arising from his judgement, including what orders to make and issues concerning any possible liability of various third parties, including Ray Macsharry Sr., Ray Macsharry Jr., and Marc Macsharry, for the losses suffered.

The Judge upheld the Gradys' claims against Mcmoreland but he ruled that a case had not been made out against Mr. Mcmahon.