Man back in Ireland on fraud charges

A WEXFORD insurance broker suspected of disappearing with clients’' money had Christmas dinner with the Irish ambassador in Hungary while international search warrants were out for his arrest, a court heard.

William (Bill) Deegan, who was extradited back to Ireland on Wednesday night following a 10-year criminal investigation, insisted he did not know gardaí and Interpol were looking for him.

He claimed he told Hungarian police who confronted him with extradition papers last month that he would take the first plane to Ireland to sort out the matter, but they arrested him and he had to endure five weeks in a communal cell in a Budapest jail.