Courts

Michael Lynn trial: Defence claims senior bank staff kept information ‘off the official record’

Witness tells case of former solicitor, accused of €27m thefts, statement of affairs purported to be from his firm a ‘forgery’

Michael Lynn has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of theft in Dublin between October 23rd, 2006 and April 20th, 2007. Photograph: Collins Courts

Isabel Hayes
Tue Oct 31 2023 - 17:24

Counsel for former solicitor Michael Lynn has told his theft trial that a line in an internal bank document suggests senior management was keeping information about his client “off the official record”.

Mr Lynn (55), of Millbrook Court, Red Cross, Co Wicklow, is accused of the theft of around €27 million from seven financial institutions. He has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of theft in Dublin between October 23rd, 2006 and April 20th, 2007.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr Lynn obtained multiple mortgages on the same properties, in a situation where banks were unaware that other institutions were also providing finance. The financial institutions involved are Bank of Ireland, National Irish Bank (later known as Danske Bank), Irish Life and Permanent, Ulster Bank, ACC Bank, Bank of Scotland Ireland and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Noel McCole, a retired business banking manager for National Irish Bank (NIB), continued his cross-examination before the jury on Tuesday.

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Paul Comiskey O’Keeffe BL, defending, showed the court internal NIB documents that the jury heard were obtained through the Data Protection Compliance Office earlier this year.

One document contained the phrase ‘solicitors undertaking / 4 properties’, the court heard.

“This is consistent with what Mr Lynn says was the position – that these were undertaking-only mortgages,” Mr Comiskey-O’Keeffe said.

“I never heard of an undertaking-only mortgage in 43 years in the bank,” Mr McCole replied.

Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe said Mr McCole had not been entirely “frank” with the court. He put it to Mr McCole that he had been “selective” with the documents he provided in relation to the case.

Mr McCole denied this, telling the court: “I can honestly say I gave whatever information in the file which was deemed to be relevant to this case and put them together.”

The jury was shown a NIB document entitled General Systems Enquiry Printouts which Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe said he got shortly before the jury was sworn in last week.

Going through parts of the document, the jury was shown a note which said ‘at the request of steering committee to keep information off portal’. The court heard the steering committee was made up of “very senior individuals” in the bank.

Mr Comiskey O’Keefe put it to Mr McCole that this suggested that senior management was keeping information “off the official record”.

“I was not aware of any information kept off the portal,” Mr McCole said.

Under re-examination from Karl Finnegan SC, prosecuting, Mr McCole said it was “never the case” that the loans from NIB to Michael Lynn were for the purchase of properties abroad.

Earlier, witness John Kinsella told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that he is a partner at Kinsella Mitchell & Associates, an accountant, tax consultant and auditing firm. He said his partner at the firm was a friend of Mr Lynn and the firm became independent auditors for Michael Lynn and Co Solicitors from 2003.

The jury was shown a statement of affairs for Mr Lynn dated November 2006. Mr Kinsella told the court that the company stamp on the document was similar, but it was not the Kinsella Mitchell & Associates company stamp. He said the signature did not come from his company and that the last statement of affairs his company carried out for Michael Lynn was in July 2006.

“Is it fair to characterise this document as a forgery?” Mr Berry said.

“Yes,” Mr Mitchell replied.

The court was also shown two versions of Michael Lynn and Co Solicitors draft accounts for the financial year ending September 2006. Mr Kinsella said one version was not prepared by his company. He agreed the other version was.

Mr Berry told the court that in the draft accounts prepared by Kinsella Mitchell & Associates, Mr Lynn’s income for 2006 was placed at some €646,000. The other document, which the court heard was provided to NIB, stated sales of €1.2 million for the same year.

Mr Berry put it to the witness that the figure of €1.2 million was “186 per cent greater than the income you reported as being attributed to Mr Lynn”. Mr Kinsella agreed with Mr Berry that it was “nearly twice as much”.

Mr Berry said the “genuine document” showed a profit for the same year as being €183,065. In the other version, he said it was listed as being €449,618, 246 per cent greater than the profit Mitchell Kinsella & Associates reported for the same year.

“It completely overstates the profit associated with Michael Lynn & Co Solicitors,” Mr Berry said.

Further documents were shown to the court, which the prosecution said did not come from Kinsella Mitchell & Associates and were “forgeries”. Mr Kinsella agreed.

The court heard Mr Kinsella will be giving evidence at a later stage and the defence will cross-examine him then.

Solicitor Stephen Mahon also gave evidence on Tuesday, telling Mr Berry of an instance in 2007 when his client sued Mr Lynn for interest accrued due to his failure to complete a property sale within the agreed timeframe.

Mr Mahon said he was an apprentice solicitor in 2006 when his clients agreed to sell a Dublin 2 property to Mr Lynn. The court heard the sale was not completed within the agreed timeframe and Mr Lynn was issued a 28-day warning to complete the sale in April 2007.

The sale was not completed within that time period either, the court heard. In July 2007, Mr Mahon said he received a letter from Mr Lynn requesting that the sale name be changed from Michael Lynn to Property Capel.

Mr Mahon agreed with Mr Berry that the name change was “not appropriate where the contract said Michael Lynn”.

Mr Berry told the court that Mr Lynn had at the time drawn down finance from two financial institutions – Bank of Ireland mortgages and NIB.

“Would that surprise you?” he asked Mr Mahon.

“Yes,” Mr Mahon replied.

Mr Mahon said he received the outstanding balance for the property in August 2007 and the sale was completed in September 2007.

Mr Mahon said that because of the delay, his clients had a right to interest owed of €18,000 and they started legal proceedings against Mr Lynn. They got a court order in relation to that but ultimately decided not to pursue it.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.

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