INVESTORS WHO paid deposits to missing solicitor Michael Lynn's company Kendar for properties in Bulgaria received promissory notes for their investments, according to a former manager who worked in Kendar's Dublin office last autumn.
Anthony Cantwell, who is now involved in property in Poland, said he started working for Mr Lynn's company, Kendar Holdings, in Dublin in mid-September and continued working for the business until the end of the year.
The assets and accounts of Mr Lynn's law practice and his property company, Kendar Holdings in Dublin, were frozen by the High Court on October 15th amid concerns about the solicitor's property dealings and borrowings.
Mr Cantwell said he continued working for the company after the court order in an effort to help investors protect the money they had invested in Kendar's properties in Hungary and Bulgaria.
He said Mr Lynn had signed over power of attorney to him for Kendar's operations in Hungary and Bulgaria and that he reported to Kendar's manager in eastern Europe. Mr Cantwell said he was no longer working for the property company and had nothing to do with Mr Lynn now.
"I was the new kid on the block. I had eastern European experience and I came out here to see if I could help investors," said Mr Cantwell, who was born in Ireland and raised in the United States.
He said investors in Kendar's property development in Bulgaria were issued promissory notes to protect their investments, while investors who paid for properties in Hungary received guarantees "on the value of the land" and were given legal advice by lawyers in Hungary on their investments.
He said money paid into his Dublin bank account in October and November was for work carried out for the company. He said he was paid money by Kendar Portugal after the court freezing order for earlier sales work he had carried out for Kendar Portugal in September. He said he was still owed money by Kendar for work done for the company.
He said a payment for €3,395 into his account from Trade Exim Group, a company in Panama, last month had nothing to do with Kendar or Mr Lynn and that it was a personal payment into his account from his own company.
Mr Cantwell said he had not seen Mr Lynn since November and did not know his whereabouts. He said he was recruited to Kendar to help develop the business.
