Gardai now in probe of €3.8m funds owed to charities
Small number of Irish operators have been hit by Ammado collapse, charity body confirms
GARDAI attached to Ireland’s corporate watchdog are poised to investigate the online donations firm that owes €3.8m to charities worldwide, according to an informed source.
The involvement of the Office for the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), which enforces company law, comes as Irish charities confirmed they are affected.
The High Court last week heard how funds raised for charities via the online donations platform, Ammado, may have been misused. The Wheel, which represents 1,300 charities, confirmed to the Sunday Independent that a small number of Irish charities may be owed money, possibly “significant” amounts.
Its director of public policy, Ivan Cooper, emphasised that the overall impact on Irish charities will be limited.
The Irish Cancer Society confirmed yesterday it is one of the charities affected but a spokesperson said it does not believe the amounts owed are “significant”. Early indications are that the amounts may be in the hundreds or the low thousands. The spokesperson said: “We are still in the early stages of our investigation.”
Peter Conlon, the businessman behind the online platform, Ammado, is understood to be in custody in Switzerland. He is also the director and managing director of Pembroke Dynamic Services, which was liquidated last week.
The Charities Regulator is also investigating financial irregularities at the firm.
IRELAND’S corporate watchdog is poised to investigate the online donations platform said to owe €3.8m to charities, as it emerged that a “small number” of Irish organisations may have been hit.
The Office for the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), which enforces company law, is to examine the operation of the Dublin company that serviced the online platform, according to a senior source.
The well-known Irish businessman, Peter Conlon, founder of the online platform, Ammado, is understood to be in custody in Switzerland, where an investigation into its activities is already in train.
The Wheel, the umbrella group for Irish charities, said yesterday that it has been liaising with its 1,300 members and that the “early signs” are that a small number of Irish charities have been “negatively impacted”, some “possibly significantly”. However, director of public policy, Ivan Cooper told the Sunday Independent that overall the impact on Irish charities will be limited.
The ODCE declined to confirm or deny whether an investigation is under way.
The alleged irregularities in Ammado and its Irish service provider, Pembroke Dynamic Services, were revealed in the High Court last week by a liquidator appointed to recover a €400,000 tax debt.
The High Court was told last week that following his initial investigations, Myles Kirby had “very serious concerns” that there had been an attempt to move assets beyond the reach of creditors.
The court heard that around €3.8m raised via Ammado had failed to be passed on to charities. It wasn’t known where some of the money had gone, however the court was told that Mr Kirby believed the dissipated funds were used to run the company and by Mr Conlon for personal expenditure.
At least 800 charities are being contacted to be told money due to them from the Ammado platform may be missing.
Ammado’s website was shut down late last week and visitors to the site are now referred to the liquidator.
The Charities Regulator has separately announced last week that it plans to inquire into the financial irregularities at the firm.
Ammado, which is based in Switzerland, facilitated public donations to international charities on a platform provided by the Dublin-based Pembroke Dynamic Internet Services.
Peter Conlon is the managing director of Pembroke Dynamic Services and is also currently listed as its sole director.
A native of Leitrim, he founded a series of technology companies and has an address in St Mary’s Road in Dublin 4.
The Charities Regulator in Ireland announced last week that it will be inquiring into any alleged breaches of the Charities Act.
The Wheel, the national association for charities, has meanwhile been liaising with its 1,300 members to assess how many might be affected but assessing the scale of the impact will take time.
“The company is being liquidated and the exact impact on Irish charities will only be known when this process is completed. We are currently liaising with our 1,300 members to understand the scale of the impact, and the early signs are that, while a small number of Irish charities have been negatively impacted (some possibly significantly), the impact on Ireland’s charity sector in general appears to be limited,” said Mr Cooper, director of public policy.
“We advise any charity that thinks it may have been affected to engage with the liquidators and to read the relevant statements on the Charities Regulator’s website.”
It was reported yesterday that two major international charities are reportedly owed more than €500,000. The refugee agency, the UNHCR, is owed just over €400,000 and Save the Children UK is owed €118,000.