Man seeks delay in accounting scandal case

AN IRISHMAN facing trial in the US in connection with an alleged accounting scandal is seeking to have his case delayed.

The retrial of Jerry Shanahan, aged 42, from Carrigaline, Co Cork, was to begin on December 4 in Concord, New Hampshire.

Shanahan faces several charges of falsifying accounts to boost the profits of Enterasys, the American technology company where he worked as chief operating officer until 2002.

The jury in the original trial of Shanahan last December failed to reach a verdict.

The legal team for Shanahan, who is back living in Cork, is attempting to prepare a motion for the courts preventing the retrial going ahead on the grounds that all but one juror in the first case wanted to acquit the Cork native.

The legal team has argued it has not had enough time to prepare that motion while also preparing for the retrial.

The team is reported to be seeking a 42-day delay.

Shanahan has been back in Ireland since last December and was arraigned by a US federal judge via video link in a Dublin court in October.

He was indicted on several counts of wire and mail fraud.

US prosecutors claim Shanahan and others set up deals with Enterasys customers to route money to them to buy Enterasys products, thereby inflating his firm’s revenue and profits.