FORMER DEVELOPER John Fleming handed over his home and virtually all his personal assets to his creditors in the course of his bankruptcy, which was discharged this week.
The Fleming construction and property group went into liquidation in March 2010 owing just over €1 billion to banks, including the now State-controlled Anglo Irish and AIB, as well as KBC and Bank of Scotland.
Southend County Court in England this week discharged Mr Fleming from bankruptcy. He had been declared bankrupt in November 2010 following proceedings which he himself initiated.
His discharge means he has a clean financial sheet, and creditors such as the Irish banks cannot pursue him further. It also means the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), which took over some of the loans secured against Fleming group assets, cannot pursue him for any shortfall between what it realises from the assets and the loans.
Documents from the case show he handed over most of his personal assets to a group of Irish creditors that had secured judgments against him ranging from €15 million to €26 million. The creditors accepted these assets under terms of the bankruptcy settlement adjudicated by the court.
Assets handed over included his family home in west Cork, a number of properties and personal investments, and a series of family trusts. He was allowed to keep two cars, one for his wife’s use, clothes, valuables and cash, worth €49,000 in total.
The documents show in July 2010 he handed over assets worth €3-€4 million to Tom Kavanagh, liquidator of one of his main group companies, JJ Fleming Holdings, in settlement of a €15 million judgment. The company had unlimited liability and as a shareholder he was responsible for its debts.
Mr Fleming lives in Essex, where he moved in February 2010, which entitled him to apply for bankruptcy in Britain, where the law allows bankrupts to be discharged after one year. The period in the Republic is 12 years.
Mr Fleming’s business was based in Bandon. He began his construction business in 1975. The company worked on projects across industry, energy and pharmaceuticals, and earned a strong reputation for the quality of its work. It ran into trouble after it bought and began developing the Sandyford site, centred around a partially built 14-story block, known as the Sentinel.
Tivway paid €245 million for the 11.3-acre site in Sandyford in early 2006, just as the property boom was reaching its peak. Three years later, Tivway went to the High Court to seek protection from its creditors, and to have an examiner appointed.
The court appointed George Maloney of accounting firm Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon. The rescue plan put forward in late 2009 involved the sale of the building contract business to a new company, Donban, and handing over the Sandyford property to the banks, which could recover value as the market returned.
