Dunne backs down on bid to withdraw US bankruptcy case

Property developer Sean Dunne has backed down on efforts to have his US bankruptcy case withdrawn. In a court document filed on November 4th, lawyers representing Mr Dunne withdrew a previous motion to dismiss his Chapter 7 case. This means the trial to assess this motion to dismiss the case, due to take place on December 3rd, has now been cancelled.

It now means that Mr Dunne’s bankruptcy trial, at the US Bankruptcy Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, will likely now go ahead in 2015.

The move follows strong objections to a withdrawal of the case from both Ulster Bank and the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). Ulster Bank argued that Mr Dunne's application to dismiss his case before Connecticut's bankruptcy court would allow him to "further manipulate assets" and frustrate the efforts of his creditors.

Nama, one of his largest creditors, said that the developer's motion was filed "in bad faith" and that a dismissal would prejudice his creditors. It also argued in a court filing that Mr Dunne and his wife Gayle Killilea Dunne "attempted to frustrate, thwart and obstruct inquiry into their financial and business affairs".

Mr Dunne, who moved to the US in 2010, filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut in March 2013 in response to Ulster Bank’s efforts to make him bankrupt in Ireland in pursuit of the money he owed the lender. He was subsequently adjudicated a bankrupt in Ireland in addition to the US on a petition by Ulster Bank, making him uniquely bankrupt on both sides of the Atlantic. However, he then sought to withdraw his US bankruptcy case on the basis that his creditors would be adequately protected in the Irish bankruptcy case. He also claimed that he cannot afford to defend himself in an action taken by Nama aimed at blocking his discharge from debt of $942 million (€700 million) in the US.