BREIFNI O’BRIEN, the businessman who allegedly operated a pyramid scheme funded with investments from his friends, has told the High Court he estimates his assets have a value of up to €36 million. He told the court he has houses and other property in Ireland, mainland Europe, Barbados, Boston and Dubai. He also said he has substantial share investments and other property.
Some of the property is owned jointly with his wife, Fiona Nagle.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday extended an order restraining Mr O’Brien from reducing his assets below €20 million.
A number of long-term friends of Mr O’Brien are seeking the return of substantial sums they gave him over the years on the understanding that he was investing the money on their behalf.
The court has heard that Mr O’Brien, of Invergarry, Silchester Road, Glenageary, Co Dublin, used at least some of this money to support his lifestyle.
During yesterday’s hearing counsel for Mr O’Brien’s wife told Mr Justice Peter Kelly that she will apply next week to vary the freezing order so that she can meet the expenses of her household and her five children ranging in age from two to 17 years.
Farmer Louis Dowley said he and his brother Robert, of Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, gave Mr O’Brien more than €3 million to invest but he had told them last month “all our years of business dealings were a fraud and a scam and that we had been conned out of our money”.
Mr O’Brien said he had received some $3 million and €1.6 million from a friend, David O’Reilly, all of which was transferred to the London bank account of another man, Brian Reid, “to whom I owed substantial sums of money”.
Mr O’Reilly, who worked for a New York-based hedge fund from 1995 to 2003 and who now lives in Bray, Co Wicklow, has known Mr O’Brien since their college days.
Other investors include former High Court taxing master David Bell (88), a pensioner of Kilgarth, Silver Birches, Dublin, and his son Peter Bell, a solicitor, of the same address who claim they invested more than €1 million in an “investment opportunity” related to lands in Co Meath.
As well as the claimants before the court, Mr O’Brien has listed five other persons whom he has described as potential claimants. He also said he had investments with family members.
Proceedings were brought against Mr O’Brien last month just days after he told solicitor Brian Quigley, representing some investors, he had been “living a lie” for up to 15 years and calculated his liabilities to 11 people at between €16 and €19 million.