Enda Farrell gets fully suspended sentence for unlawful disclosures

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Enda Farrell received a two-year sentence suspended in full by Judge Karen O'Connor at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 12 May 2016.

Farrell pleaded guilty to eight counts of unlawfully disclosing information in breach of the 2009 Nama Act. The offences occurred between May and July 2012.

He sent confidential Nama valuations of hundreds of properties to named individuals in QED Equity Ltd and Canaccord Genuity. The records covered major developers' properties, Nama's hotel portfolio and properties in Germany. Farrell told investigators he thought he was advancing the agency's interests.

At a sentence hearing in April 2016, Detective Garda Gareth Lynch said Farrell had not profited from the disclosures and Nama had suffered no loss as a result. Kerida Naidoo BL, prosecuting, said it was not part of the prosecution case that Farrell had advantaged himself or compromised Nama's ability to do its business.

The judge identified the breach of trust and Farrell's steps to bypass security as aggravating factors. In mitigation, she considered his admission, voluntary return to the jurisdiction, loss of personal and professional reputation and the psychological impact of his fall from grace.

Michael Bowman SC, defending, said Farrell had lost his job, been left destitute by civil proceedings and damaged his employment prospects through poor judgement. Counsel described pressure from banks and Nama over conflicting valuation expectations, and a workplace culture in which people became desensitised to confidentiality. Detective Garda Gareth Lynch agreed that Farrell had been very co-operative with gardaí.