A GP and former director of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP) who failed to keep adequate accounting records has been fined €10,000.
Sentencing Andrew Jordan (71) on Tuesday, Judge Martin Nolan said it was a “sin of omission not of commission” when he failed to keep records in relation to the failed GP lobbying group.
The NAGP went into liquidation in 2019 as a result of poor management, owing more than €330,000 to creditors, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, told the court.
Jordan, of Templeogue Road, Terenure, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of failing to keep adequate accounting records of a company which subsequently wound up and was unable to pay its debts, resulting in substantial uncertainty as to its assets and liabilities. He has no previous convictions.
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The offence occurred on dates between January 2017 and December 2018, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. Another person who can’t be named remains before the courts.
The court heard Jordan was working on a voluntary basis for the NAGP, which was set up in 2013 as a lobbying body for GPs. He was a director and secretary of the company and was not receiving any remuneration for his work.
Defence counsel, Remy Farrell SC, told the court that Jordan was working six days a week in his practice and that on the days he was working for the NAGP, he hired a locum to take his place. As a result, he was due about €60,000 from the NAGP to cover these expenses, which he never received.
Passing down sentence, Judge Nolan said Jordan was “derelict in his duties as secretary and director” and failed to ensure proper accounts were kept.
But he noted Jordan did not profit from this crime and that his involvement in the NAGP had in fact cost him money. The judge noted Jordan co-operated with gardaí at all times, has no previous convictions and is unlikely to reoffend.
He ordered Jordan to pay a fine of €10,000 (€5,000 for each count he pleaded guilty to) and to do so within six months.
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