AIB to seek judgment against Paddy Kelly and son

AIB IS the latest bank to seek a judgment against property developer Paddy Kelly and his son Simon.

The bank is to ask Mr Justice Peter Kelly in the Commercial Court today to be allowed to enter its list in a case where it is seeking a summary judgment.

ACC Bank has already had a judgment for more than €16 million made against Mr Kelly and his three children, and a further judgment for €6 million made against him personally.

He has also had a judgment of more than €2 million made against him and his son Simon on behalf of Investec Bank.

There are a record 20 applications listed for entry to the Commercial Court list today, including a case being taken by Dunnes Stores against Point Village Development Ltd and businessman Harry Crosbie.

ACC Bank and Bank of Ireland are both on the list seeking summary judgments. There are three new cases on the list involving Thema International Fund plc, a Dublin-listed fund that has been involved in an earlier case before the court linked to convicted US fraudster Bernie Madoff.

In January the court heard that it and another fund had given more than €1 billion to the Irish arm of the HSBC Bank for dealings which involved the now-jailed Madoff.

The court is to hear applications today from AIG Life Ireland Ltd, Oak Holdings Ltd, and Harlap Shmuel against Thema and HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Ireland) Ltd, in three separate cases.

Another case due before the court involves Ingersoll Rand plc, the multibillion euro diversified industrial multinational. The company wants to move its holding company here from Bermuda, arising out of suggested tax changes in the US that have made some multinationals decide to leave Bermuda.

Last week the court heard that a healthcare multinational, Covidien, was also shifting its headquarters from Bermuda to Ireland, for the same reasons.

Ireland’s membership of the EU, use of the euro, long history of international investment and network of tax treaties were all attractions that led the company to decide on Ireland, the court was told. Other reasons were the fact that it is an English-speaking country, has a common law jurisdiction and has a stable business, legal and regulatory environment.