A DUBLIN couple are being pursued by a US company over an alleged failure to honour an agreement to share a $300 million consulting fee concerning an agreement by corporations in Russia and Venezuela to distribute oil to a Turkish corporation.

It is alleged that Edward O’Neill, Attracta Road, Cabra, Dublin, who is being sued with his wife Sandra, was to distribute monies between various US beneficiaries but initially claimed he could not transfer the funds.

It is claimed Mr O’Neill received some $300 million in late 2008 arising from his purported capacity as an agent for MDM Oil Ltd. Those monies, it is alleged, were under an agreement of December 2008 to have been shared with various US companies and others, several of which have now formed CJN with head offices in Chicago to pursue their claims against the couple.

Proceedings were initiated in the US after the monies were not distributed. The papers were served by ABC Investigations Ltd on the defendants at their home in Cabra in July 2010.

Last August, a court in Illinois granted partial judgment for about $151 million against the defendants, plus interest. They did not contest the proceedings. CJN yesterday applied for the Commercial Court to fast-track proceedings to enforce that judgment, now standing about $162 million.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly queried how he could enforce a judgment of a US court where the defendants had not submitted to the US court and had not entered an appearance.

He ruled that no adequate explanation had been given for the delay in bringing the action and refused transfer, meaning the case will now proceed in the normal High Court list.