Proceedings against Ms Lisa O'Reilly, the former girlfriend of missing BRK Financial Services broker Mr Brian Kilbane, have been dismissed by Circuit Court President Mr Justice Esmonde Smyth. The judge said he accepted that the claim of two sisters, who gave Mr Kilbane and his company, Eastgrange Investments Ltd, £20,000 (€25,394) for investment purposes, disclosed no cause of action against Ms O'Reilly.
Mr Paul Greene, counsel for Ms O'Reilly, told Dublin Circuit Court that, in February 1999, in response to a notice of motion for an injunction freezing a portion of her assets, she had expressly denied in a sworn affidavit having any contact with Eastgrange Investments Ltd or knowledge of being a director of the company. Mr Greene said that situation remained and she had been surprised to see her signature on a form detailing a change of directors or secretaries at Eastgrange Investments. She had corresponded with the Registrar of Companies asking him to remove her name from the form, which purported to identify her as a director of the company. He said she was seeking to have the proceedings against her dismissed. They had been hanging over her for the past two years and she had been unable to obtain work in that time. Ms O'Reilly, a secretary, of Kerdiff Avenue, Naas, Co Kildare, had already told the court she suspected her name had been forged on the form. She said that in October 1994 her relationship with Mr Kilbane had ended and there had been no contact between them since April 1996. Mr Angus Buttanshaw, counsel for sisters Bernadette and Roseann Donnelly, Charlemont Street, Dublin, said he had to concede that the civil bill before the court did not disclose a cause of action against Ms O'Reilly. "It is expressly admitted by the plaintiffs that they have had no direct contact with Ms O'Reilly. The case against her had been that she was a director of the company, which was the third-named defendant," Mr Buttanshaw said. Dismissing the proceedings against Ms O'Reilly, the judge awarded her legal costs against the Donnelly sisters. Mr Buttanshaw said the Donnelly sisters had contacted Mr Kilbane in January 1997 and he had told them he was an investment adviser. They had invested £20,000 with Eastgrange Investments. In 1999 they had sought to recover their investment to pay a deposit on property and were told by Mr Kilbane that there would be no difficulty, but they had not heard from him since. Mr Buttanshaw said a number of other investors had lost considerable sums of money. Mr Kilbane had beaten an earlier effort to freeze monies he held in Ireland prior to leaving the jurisdiction. Mr Justice Smyth granted the Donnellys leave to serve an amended civil bill on Mr Kilbane by way of a newspaper advertisement, and adjourned the proceedings against Mr Kilbane and his company for mention on March 5th. [SBX]
A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation some months ago in relation to Mr Kilbane. A decision as to whether charges should be brought has not yet been announced.
