According to a report in today’s Irish Times, the High Court has ruled that the ownership and control of Larry Goodman’s business empire is to be examined as part of an ongoing multimillion euro legal battle surrounding shareholding in Blackrock Hospital Ltd (BHL).

The news comes as part of the court case between Joseph Sheehan and defendents Breccia, Irish Agricultural Development Company, Blackrock Hospital Ltd, George Duffy, Rosaleen Duffy and Tully Corbett Limited. Sheehan has obtained a court order allowing him to amend his case in order for it to include an investigation into the chain of control surrounding a company named Breccia.

Goodman’s ABP group is one of the largest beef-processing companies in Europe with operations in Ireland, the UK and Poland. The beef baron is listed as one of two directors of the company Breccia, which is named as the defendant in this and several other High Court cases.

The cases all centre around the shareholder’s agreement of BHL. Several offshore companies of which Goodman is listed as a director have been linked to disputed changes in the private hospital’s shareholding.

Yesterday’s ruling means that the court will now look into the ownership of the Goodman portfolio, which includes companies in numerous countries, many of which are known as ‘‘tax-havens’’.

Goodman’s letter

The Irish Times cited an article printed on 24 April 2015, ‘‘Goodman company owner paid little tax on €52m profit’’, as being instrumental in this court judgment.

In a letter to the Times printed on 8 May 2015 in response to that article, Larry Goodman said that “the group [ABP], which is headquartered in Ireland and has successful operating plants in Ireland, UK, Poland, Holland, Denmark, Austria and Spain, pays substantial millions in corporation taxes on the profits earned and is tax-compliant in all jurisdictions in which it operates”.

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