Fugitive Lynn spotted day after warrant was issued
Monday December 17 2007
A sighting of runaway solicitor Michael Lynn was reported in London as recently as Friday, the Irish Independent has learned.
The Mayo-born lawyer and property developer, who owes an estimated €80m to various parties linked to his property deals, was spotted in central London by a man who then contacted this newspaper.
The man said he firmly believed he had seen Mr Lynn and was "shocked" to see him there.
It was just a day after a warrant had been issued for Mr Lynn's arrest after he failed to show up for High Court hearings on two consecutive days.
Hunt
Meanwhile, Interpol has not yet been alerted in relation to Mr Lynn's disappearance but international police agencies may be used to track him down as the fraud investigation continues, senior gardai have said.
While there is not yet an international police hunt underway, it is believed that several firms of private detective agencies are working on the case, trying to find Mr Lynn or trace his assets.
His wife, Brid Murphy, has confirmed she saw her husband at his solicitor's office in London on Monday, December 10.
His failure to turn up at the court hearings here had fuelled speculation that he may have fled to one of the countries where he had been doing business.
Neighbours told gardai that two truckloads of belongings, including a piano, were removed from his Dublin 4 home in recent days. Two British-registered removal trucks collected the goods from St Alban's Road, Sandymount.
Permanent TSB is seeking to repossess Mr Lynn's Range Rover but neither the gardai or private detectives have yet located it.
Some financial sources believe that, in the days leading up to his disappearance, Mr Lynn laid careful plans to make his getaway and may have tried to sell some of his assets.
Confidential files and computer equipment may have been among the items removed from his Sandymount home, while another computer server which was in his office has been removed in the past couple of weeks.
The garda fraud investigation is expected to take months and will require assistance from commercial fraud specialists and forgery experts. Assistance from Interpol or Europol may be called on down the line if the investigation team want to bring charges against Mr Lynn.
A syndicate of Irish banks is co-operating in the attempt to unravel the workings of his property empire.
- Dearbhail McDonald
