Lawyers for Ulster Bank have applied to a US court seeking to intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings of property developer Sean Dunne so the bank can proceed with its own bankruptcy proceedings against him in Ireland.
Ulster Bank said that Mr Dunne’s filing for bankruptcy in the US was the “culmination of extraordinary efforts” by him to “avoid the application of Irish law to an Irish national with respect to Irish debts and Irish assets”.
Mr Dunne’s filing for bankruptcy in the US in March was an attempt by him to avoid the effect of Irish bankruptcy proceedings initiated six weeks before he applied for bankruptcy in the US, the bank said.
Ulster Bank argued in the application to the court in filings lodged in the US bankruptcy court in Connecticut yesterday that Mr Dunne’s connection to the US, much less the bankruptcy court, was “tenuous at best.”
Only two of his creditors are located in the US and every single piece of property, every bank account - with the exception of one US bank account with $15 in it - and every since creditor are based outside the US, almost entirely in Ireland, the bank said.
Ulster Bank said Mr Dunne’s filing for bankruptcy was a “rather blatant attempt” to use the US court to “frustrate the laws and jurisdiction of a foreign court” and that this should be enough to allow the bank to proceed with its case before the Irish courts.
The bank told the US bankruptcy court that “a parallel bankruptcy proceeding in Ireland is critical for the orderly, efficient and just administration of this case.”
The court was told that Ulster Bank had been unable to serve the Irish bankruptcy proceedings on Mr Dunne because of his “extraordinary effort” to avoid service.
Mr Dunne blamed the bank’s action against him in Ireland as a reason why he applied for bankruptcy in the US. He maintains that he filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut rather than in Dublin because he now lives in the US.
Ulster Bank secured a judgment of €164 million against the Co Carlow developer in the High Court in Dublin last year.
He filed for bankruptcy in the US bankruptcy court in Connecticut, where he now lives with his wife Gayle Killilea. He has liabilities of $942 million (€718 million) and assets of $55 million, according to statements filed in court.
Bankruptcy in the US is far less onerous than in Ireland where an individual can walk away from their debts in a matter of months rather than years in Ireland.
Ulster Bank told the US court that in 2005 and 2006 Mr Dunne’s company DCD Builders secured a syndicated loan for as much as €326 million relating to his biggest project, the redevelopment of the Jury’s hotels sites in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
