Court overturns orders against former chief executive of Galway steel company

The High Court has rejected orders it issued to prevent a steel company’s former financial controller from selling off its assets for less than €900,000, being told the case was settled.

Ever-resident Coen Steel received a freezing order last November after he claimed Enda Munnelly, who had left his post a few months earlier, had embezzled at least €727,000 in company funds and inflated the company’s contribution to his pension.

Coen Steel told the court in November that Mr Munnelly had denied the allegations in correspondence with the company.

On Thursday, Judge Brian O’Moore was told the matter had been settled after out-of-court talks and could be dropped.

Coen Steel, through his attorney Oliver Butler, sought to have all previous court orders set aside.

No further details were given to the court.

In November, the court heard that Mr Munnelly allegedly regularly made unauthorized payments totaling around €395,000 from the company’s bank account to two credit cards unrelated to the company.

Coen Steel also claimed the Financial Controller had written company checks for €93,000 during the same period.

He made unauthorized payments into his pension from company accounts between 2016 and 2022, which the company believes totaled around €205,000, the company said.

Mr Munnelly was contractually entitled to a contribution of 15 per cent of his salary, but he orchestrated payments well in excess of this and also unilaterally increased his salary, Coen Steel claimed.

The company alleged that Mr Munnelly was involved in a “covert, dual scheme to defraud the company of a very large sum of money for his own gain”.

Mr Munnelly denied the allegations.

The case was dropped.