Former solicitor goes on trial over alleged theft of €51.8 million

In a case that dates from what the prosecution called the "zenith of the Celtic Tiger", the former Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne went on trial yesterday. He is accused of using forged documents to pass off clients' homes as his own to secure multi-million euro bank loans.

Prosecuting barrister Remy Farrell told the jury in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the trial would bring to mind the old line that the past - in this case the very recent past - is a foreign country.

Mr Byrne (47) has pleaded not guilty to 51 counts of theft, forgery, using forged documents and deception between 2002 and 2007. The charges relate to 12 properties and involve the alleged theft of €51.8 million. Mr Byrne, who now works as a waiter, is alleged to have forged documents to pretend he owned his clients’ houses to borrow millions of euro from six banks. Many clients lived in Walkinstown, where Mr Byrne grew up and later practised.

Mr Farrell said that many of the alleged offences followed a pattern. Mr Byrne allegedly transferred ownership of clients’ houses to his own name using a forged deed of transfer and would then use the property as security to secure millions of euro in finance. In some cases, Mr Byrne allegedly used the same property to extract money from multiple institutions.

The trial continues.