Fund transfer between companies was a fraud

The transfer of monies from a firm behind a failing restaurant run by businessman Jeffrey Stokes to another owned by his wife, Pia Bang Stokes, was a fraud under company law, a judge has ruled.

Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan at the High Court ordered Mr Stokes, a co-director of Citywest Hire Ltd, which operated the Il Segreto restaurant in Merrion Row, Dublin, must repay €21,000 to the official liquidator of business, Myles Kirby.

Mr Kirby wanted the court to order repayment of €63,000 which he claimed had been wrongly transferred over an 11-day period in May/June 2013.