Millionaire property developer Sean Dunne told his solicitor to "send back" a cheque for €100 received from businessman Kevin Warren as a deposit for his 50 per cent stake in the multimillion euro Whitewater Shopping Centre at Newbridge, the High Court was told yesterday.

Nicola Palmer, a solicitor with Matheson Ormsby Prentice Solicitors, told the court the cheque arrived by courier on September 1st, 2005 and she was not expecting it as it was outside the time specified in an earlier contract. "It was a strange thing to receive and it wasn't expected," she said.

Ms Palmer said she contacted Mr Dunne by e-mail and later had a telephone conversation with him about the cheque."His initial comment was: 'Send it back'," she said.

She said they were intending to supplant the €100 figure with a larger amount, the cheque had been served out of time and she did not want to get into "a ping pong" situation with the cheque going back and forth.

Ms Palmer said she put the cheque to one side, did not acknowledge receipt of it, did not cash it and regarded it as not having been accepted.

Ms Palmer told the fifth day of Mr Dunne's action against Mr Warren over the purported sale of his stake in the centre that the transaction between Mr Dunne and Mr Warren was "'inordinately complex" because it was for the sale of a 50 per cent interest. It also had to take cognisance of the interrelationship between Mr Dunne and the other 50 per cent stakeholder, Seán Mulryan, as well as dealings with banks, other solicitors and the property company CBRE.

Mr Dunne, of Merrion Square, Dublin, claims the purported sale of his stake on July 21st, 2005, to Mr Warren, of Northumberland Road, Dublin, is in breach of an agreement that the sale would not be completed until a development agreement had been executed by both parties. Mr Dunne claims it was understood by both parties that the €37.5 million figure was only part of an overall figure to be agreed under a development agreement to be negotiated by the two sides.

The developer, who recently purchased Jury's Hotel and other sites in Ballsbridge, is seeking a declaration from the court that no binding agreement was reached between himself and Mr Warren for the sale of his 50 per cent stake.

Mr Warren has denied Mr Dunne's claims and says Mr Dunne agreed to sell his stake for €37.5 million and that a €100 deposit paid on August 31st, 2005 secured the deal.

Mr Warren also claims there is a binding contract between Mr Dunne and Mr Warren for the sale of the former's stake, which alleged contract was agreed in a written memorandum of agreement made on July 21st, 2005. He contends Mr Dunne has refused to complete the sale and is acting in breach of contract.

The court has heard Mr Dunne was the owner of 50 per cent of lands at Moorfield and Kilbelin in Newbridge, Co Kildare, where the Whitewater centre is situated. Mr Mulryan was the owner of the other 50 per cent interest.

The hearing continues today before Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan.