FOUR PROPERTIES owned by fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn were repossessed at the High Court yesterday.
The court was told notice of the proceedings against Mr Lynn, who left Ireland in late 2007 owing tens of millions of euro, was served by placing advertisements in newspapers in Portugal and Budapest.
KBC Bank Ireland Plc applied to repossess five properties at Cluain Buí, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, owned by Mr Lynn and a business partner.
The two men owed €2.5 million for the properties, described as unoccupied holiday homes.
In an affidavit, partly opened in court, Mr Lynn’s partner said he had transferred his interest in the properties to Mr Lynn in 2004 and had signed an agreement to that affect drawn up by Mr Lynn.
He believed their property partnership had been dissolved and was not aware of any proceedings until Mr Lynn fled the jurisdiction.
He said he felt “let down” by Mr Lynn, the court heard.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern asked if there had been any correspondence from Mr Lynn or if the bank had made any attempt to track him down.
“I can understand why your clients don’t want to throw good money after bad to track him down, but have they talked to the authorities?” the judge asked.
Counsel for the bank said they had not. Neither did they want to go to the expense of hiring a private detective.
After attempting to correspond with Mr Lynn at his home, they had simply advertised notice of their legal action in newspapers in Budapest and Portugal, as ordered previously by the court.
Their fundamental concern was to recover and sell the properties.
The court heard other lending institutions might also have a claim over the properties through mortgages taken out subsequently and it was agreed that the proceeds from their sale would be held until any dispute over legal interest was settled.
The court was also told there were problems of title with one of the five properties.
Mr Justice McGovern granted an order for possession of four of the five properties.
He said the bank could return to court to apply for an order for the fifth once its title was settled.
