Search for solicitor as three more face probe
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Thursday October 25 2007
FEARS are growing that up to three more practising solicitors are embroiled in a multi-million euro property scam.
The Irish Independent has learned that serious concerns have been raised about the practices of at least three more lawyers.
Some of them have been investigated previously by the Law Society, the governing body for solicitors.
The three are based in Munster and Leinster. These are in addition to the two who have had assets frozen by the High Court in the past fortnight.
And now banks that handed out millions to solicitors who drew down several mortgages on the same property are trying to discover how much they may have lost. The banks have begun a full audit of property dealings by solicitors who represented themselves in residential property deals.
It was also learned yesterday that a prominent solicitor, who is facing more than 20 High Court civil actions against his practice by disaffected clients, has been admitted to a psychiatric institution. It is not known if the actions are conveyance-based complaints.
Meanwhile, the High Court was told that Dublin solicitor and property developer Thomas Byrne, who has had assets frozen by the High Court, has apparently absconded.
The High Court heard yesterday that the whereabouts of Mr Byrne, from Lad Lane, Baggot Street in Dublin, with a practice in Walkinstown, Dublin 12, are unknown.
These revelations come as five major banks go to the High Court this morning to try and have some €50m in mortgage loans registered against Mayo-born solicitor Michael Lynn.
Permanent TSB has begun legal proceedings to recover over €10m owed to it by Mr Lynn. The bank confirmed it had advanced over €10m to Mr Lynn through several loans in respect of 27 properties. It added that these loans were secured by undertakings by a solicitor who was not Michael Lynn.
Mr Lynn's practice was shut down by the Law Society two weeks ago after it reported "acts of dishonesty" on his part in relation to clients' money.
Mr Lynn, who practises as Capel Law in Dublin, was investigated by the society due to concerns about his property dealings.
In the case of Mr Byrne, High Court judge Ms Justice Mary Laffoy has ordered advertisements to be placed in national newspapers warning of injunctions and freezing orders against the Walkinstown lawyer after efforts to locate him by IIB Bank failed.
The High Court was told IIB had made several attempts to contact Mr Byrne after the court granted freezing orders against his accounts on Monday.
Miss Justice Laffoy continued the freezing orders and also granted an order compelling National Irish Bank, where Mr Byrne holds his accounts, to disclose details of his accounts since the loan for €9m was drawn down on September 7.
The court has been told that IIB Bank granted the loan after Mr Byrne offered 20 other properties as security. Those properties are located across Dublin, with one in Carlow. But more than a dozen of these properties were already mortgaged.
The Law Society carried out an audit of Mr Byrne's office on Monday. Mr Byrne did not show up at his office that day. This morning, a barrister for Bank of Scotland Ireland indicated to the High Court that it, too, had several mortgages with Mr Byrne. The case will be back before the court next Tuesday.
In affidavits to the court, IIB said it had learned that Mr Byrne had taken out prior mortgages with other banks relating to the same properties on which the IIB loan is secured.
Tho other banks are Bank of Scotland Ireland, which was represented in court yesterday, ICS Building Society, Anglo Irish Bank and Ulster Bank Ltd.
Mr Byrne failed to turn up and was not legally represented when IIB succeeded yesterday in an application to continue freezing orders against him.
IIB has expressed concern that, given Mr Byrne's conduct to date, the €9m loaned by it to Mr Byrne appeared to have been fraudulently obtained. It feared that Mr Byrne would dissipate his assets with a view "to defrauding" the bank.
Mr Byrne was found guilty of misconduct by the Law Society in December 2006 for allowing a deficit of almost €1.7m on the client account as of May 31, 2005 and for allowing his personal transactions to be drawn from the client bank account.
- Dearbhail McDonald and Aodhan O'Faolain
