Simon Carswellprofiles Thomas Byrne, a solicitor under suspicion.
Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne was a dapper dresser with high ambitions for his legal practice and for his property business.
This week, all that came to an end. His legal practice, which has offices in Walkinstown and Sandyford, has been shut down.
Legal proceedings have been issued against him by the Law Society over the running of his practice and by one of his banks over a €9 million loan.
Byrne, of Lad Lane, Baggot Street, Dublin, is at the centre of two High Court actions - one taken by IIB Bank and the other by the Law Society, which regulates solicitors, over the running of his legal practice. Bank of Scotland (Ireland) has also expressed concerns about his property dealings.
The 41-year-old Dubliner is the second solicitor/property investor in as many weeks to be pursued through the courts by the Law Society and the banks.
The practice of Dublin-based solicitor Michael Lynn was closed down last week.
The Law Society is still investigating both men. Banks are examining multimillion-euro loans provided to them for their unconnected property dealings.
Originally from Walkinstown and a law graduate of University College Dublin, Byrne ran his practice from his home in the 1990s helped by a €6,350 loan.
Like many solicitors in the property boom, he focused on conveyancing.
Byrne moved his practice to Walkinstown Road in 2002 where it is still located. He opened a second office in Sandyford. In 2004, his practice earned fee income of €3.5 million. By 2005, he was employing 12 people and had plans to open a third office.
He also had plans to grow the firm by attracting corporate clients through breakfast seminars on legal issues for businesspeople. He hosted a talk by former British Conservative minister Michael Portillo in 2004 which was attended by more than 100 businesspeople.
Byrne is also an investor in Spanish Golf Club Rentals, a company set up last year to rent golf clubs to travellers to Spain who find it too costly to bring their own clubs.
He is a director of another firm, Compass Property Development. In July Byrne received planning permission to build offices and apartments on a one-acre site on the Greenhills Road in Walkinstown.
Byrne owes IIB Bank €9 million, which he drew down on September 7th. The bank since found that 12 of the properties provided as security had already been mortgaged by other banks.
Solicitors for IIB contacted the Law Society earlier this month over its concerns about Byrne. The High Court froze his bank accounts on Monday following an application by the bank. On Tuesday the Law Society initiated proceedings against Byrne in a private hearing.
Byrne told the Sunday Timesin 2005: "we have always tried to be an approachable, user-friendly firm that is also fast and efficient. This combination seems to appeal to people."
Clients have been unable to reach Byrne in recent days. The High Court heard yesterday that his whereabouts are unknown.
IIB applied in court yesterday for details of Byrne's bank accounts from National Irish Bank. It expressed concern that its €9 million appeared to have been fraudulently obtained.