Michael Small jailed for deception and false accounting

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

Former solicitor Michael Small received a two-year prison sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 27 March 2023.

Small pleaded guilty to deception and false accounting. The offences occurred between 2008 and 2009 while he was practising as a solicitor in Limerick.

The offences involved undertakings to a lending institution concerning properties valued at over €1 million that were never purchased. The court heard that the money was drawn down into an account but the properties were not bought.

Small’s lawyers said he did not substantially benefit personally and that most of the mortgage money was dispersed to clients, mortgage brokers or elsewhere. Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Small did not benefit to a great degree, but said he was the principal cause and the offences could not have occurred without his involvement.

Judge Nolan imposed a two-year sentence and granted an application to adjourn it until the following Thursday, when Small was to be taken into custody.