Auctioneer told to pay €850,000 in dispute over lands he sold
AN auctioneer alleged to have secretly profited from selling an elderly woman's lands to a company with which he was connected, has been told to pay over €850,000.
Colm McEvoy has been ordered by the High Court to repay the outstanding amount under a settlement of proceedings against him.
This money is the second half of the €1.7 million settlement.
The land was allegedly undervalued at £110,000 while, it was claimed, its true market value was £450,000.
It was claimed auctioneer Mr McEvoy, of Fairgreen, Naas, Co Kildare, had falsely told Mary Maher that the £110,000 price secured by him for her lands in 1996 was reasonable.
It was also claimed he falsely told her the lands had limited development potential and failed to tell her the purchaser was a company connected with himself.
It was claimed Ms Maher had wished to sell the lands to raise money to fund her care in her later years and that, relying on the alleged false representations of Mr McEvoy, she had agreed to sell for £110,000.
The claims were denied and the case, brought by Robert Murphy on behalf of Ms Maher, was settled on agreed terms last year.
Honour
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill yesterday granted judgment for some €857,824 to Mr Murphy against Mr McEvoy and Colm McEvoy Auctioneers Ltd, also of Fairgreen, Naas, after being told the defendants had failed to honour terms of settlement requiring them to pay that sum by January 20.
In the proceedings, it was claimed Ms Maher had decided in June 1996 to put lands up for sale to realise funds to help her meet her financial needs in her later years. On August 1, 1996, Ms Maher had engaged Mr McEvoy to obtain the best price available for the lands on the open market, it was claimed.
However, acting either on his own behalf or as agent for his firm, Mr McEvoy had allegedly falsely or negligently represented to Ms Maher that the lands had development potential limited to some seven or eight houses.
It is also alleged he had not told her the purchaser was a company connected with himself. It was also claimed Mr McEvoy had falsely represented that the lands were zoned for a different density of housing than was in fact the case.
It was claimed Ms Maher then agreed to sell the lands for £110,000, representing a substantial undervalue, to Brendan O'Mahony in trust for Westland Properties Ltd, allegedly a company connected with Mr McEvoy.
- Tim Healy
