by Andrew Carey
THE Director of Public Prosecutions is to consider prosecuting a former director of the Irish League of Credit Unions, Limerick man Matt Heffernan, over loans he took out at a Credit Union in Cork.
Following the wind up of the Castletownbere branch of the credit union, an internal report revealed that Mr Heffernan, who was previously involved in the running of Caherdavin Credit Union, had loans so large they were in breach of the law.
The matter came to light in April of last year when the former director stepped down amid controversy and speculation. He had been nominated to the board the previous February and worked as a field officer monitoring the operations of the league’s branches throughout the south of Ireland.
During the wind up process of the Credit Union in Castletownbere, it emerged that Mr Heffernan had loans valued at €350,000 linked to Bulgarian and Spanish holiday properties and the Irish League of Credit Unions has since notified Gardaí about the matter.
The loans breached legislation of the Credit Union Act because of their size and Gardai have been informed that application forms for loans for Mr Heffernan contained incorrect personal information including different addresses and a different occupation.
KPMG revealed that the loans obtained from Berehaven Credit Union by Mr Heffernan were not being repaid and that joint names were used. Some of those named were unaware of the loans.
