BUSINESS OPINION:State's legal structures need to do more to persuade Michael Lynn of his responsibilities.
FEW WILL have envied Bríd Murphy last week as she steeled herself for her latest public appearance. Ms Murphy, wife of errant solicitor Michael Lynn, found herself in court for the umpteenth time, complete with all of the photographs, news reports and general comment that involves, fighting for what she asserted to be her rights to a family home.
In the event, the case was settled and Ms Murphy was said to be content with the ruling.
In essence, it lifts from her the burden of a potential €11 million liability on the couple's proposed family residence in Howth, Co Dublin and makes ACC Bank the winner among the list of banks that had each extended mortgages on the property.
It is not exactly a desirable state of affairs for any of the parties involved but at least the Lynn debacle, which first emerged last September, can now be said to have entered a period of closure. Or at least that would be the case if the man at the centre of the proceedings, Lynn himself, could find his way home to answer the multitude of other questions that have been stacking up against him since his disappearance from these shores late last year. Or if the bulk of €84 million or so in banking liabilities he committed himself to before his departure didn't remain outstanding.
Glenlion, the Howth house, is unfortunately just one example of his penchant for multiple mortgages on single properties. Moreover, resolution of this case will offer little comfort to the investors in Lynn's international property ventures, who have been left high and dry since his disappearance.
The scarlet pimpernel of Irish legal circles, Lynn has been variously "spotted" in London, Lisbon and New York and even Brazil since he failed to turn up at one of the legal hearings involving him last December.
While sightings can be mistaken, it is odd in the extreme that the travelling solicitor appears free to move around at will while banks and investors continue to tie themselves in legal knots over his finances.
More bizarre still is the admission by his wife, Ms Murphy, last week that she met Lynn a week previously in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, after which he was planning to fly to Portugal.
News of this interlude might reduce any sympathy one might hold for Ms Murphy's situation, even though she is by no means responsible for her husband's actions.
Perhaps she managed to pass on a message to her husband from the league of angry Irish bankers and investors as they toured the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral or admired the Monument to the Tsar Liberator but it seems doubtful.
What is by now well established is that Mr Lynn appears to have little respect for the law, the profession he selected some years ago. A warrant for his arrest was issued almost six months ago but, given his preference to remain abroad where the warrant does not apply, it now seems safe to say he has no intention of taking account of it.
He is also happy, it seems, to leave his wife to answer questions, appear in the High Court and generally deal with his problems on his behalf.
This is all very well - it is up to every married couple to establish how to divide family duties. What is considerably less acceptable, however, is that the solicitor has (in theory at least) been left more or less free to transact further property deals, accept investments and take on debts in any country of his choosing without anybody in the Republic trying to stop him.
Surely the State has some duty of care towards its fellow nations in this respect? And surely the investors of Bulgaria, Portugal and everywhere else should not consider a Google search on the bona fides of this suave property developer to be their most powerful tool in checking his form.
The Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, said in January that the gardaí were gathering evidence in the matter - which could presumably lead to an international arrest warrant - however, too much time has passed without progress in the meantime.
To say the Lynn case is not an international one is blatantly inaccurate. Just ask the banks, some of which have already brought their fight for repayment to courts in other countries. Or speak to the investors who thought that, by now, they would be settling into a fancy new apartment in Portugal for the summer but instead have found themselves helpless at the centre of a legal battle that was always going to be bigger than them.
It is true that it takes a long time to construct cases in areas of financial crime, including fraud. Difficult as the case may be, however, this should not take away from the fact that Mr Lynn's behaviour is making a mockery of the law, with this becoming all the more clear as more time progresses.
While he continues on his merry way (making no secret of meetings with his wife), costs mount, investors and banks are out of pocket and there is no sign of the man himself arriving home to sort out the mess he left in his wake. It does not seem unfair, at this stage, to expect the legal structures of the State to do more to persuade him of his duties.
