Accountant Alan Hynes and wife are being sued for €7.6m

Accountant Alan Hynes is being pursued for more than €7.6 million in the Commercial Court.

Bank of Scotland has sued Mr Hynes and his wife Noreen, of Larkinstown, Coolree, Wexford, for some €7.6 million over unpaid loans issued in connection with various property investments in Wexford and Dublin.

The bank claims that sum is owed under various loan facilities advanced on dates from June 2003. It demanded repayment of some €7.3 million under the facilities in January 2009 and made a further demand in March last. With interest, around €7.6 million remains due and owing, it alleges.

The couple, in correspondence with the bank's solicitors, have raised a number of issues by way of a purported defence, a bank official said in an affidavit. Those defences concern other loan facilities provided to other entities in the Tuskar group of companies in which the couple have, or had, an interest and to other matters not related to this case, BOS contends.

The case came before Mr Justice Brian McGovern today, via an application by Declan McGrath SC, for BOS, to fast-track it in the Commercial Court.

The judge heard Mr Hynes has not yet entered an appearance in the proceedings but that the bank had been served on Sunday night with an appearance for Noreen Hynes. It was also indicated a Tuskar company representative proposed to provide an affidavit for Mr Hynes, Mr McGrath said.

Mr Justice McGovern said he would transfer the proceedings to the Commercial Court list and adjourn the matter to next month.

As Mr Hynes has not entered an appearance in the case and the court would not admit an unsworn affidavit, Mr Hynes would have to enter an appearance and file an affidavit if he wished to defend the proceedings, he said.

Separately, a tribunal is investigating charges brought against Mr Hynes by the Chartered Accountants' Regulatory Board (CARB) on foot of complaints from investors who lost over €18 million in a number of his property ventures, including Tuskar Asset Management (TAM) plc, now in liquidation.