Bank of Scotland Ireland viewed Thomas Byrne as “an astute and prudent operator” when lending him over €13 million, the former solicitor’s trial has heard. The bank regarded Mr Byrne as a “highly regarded and experienced broker with an excellent track record”.
Documents show that it saw Mr Byrne as being responsible for introducing several high net worth individuals to Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI).
The jury also heard evidence that Mr Byrne was recruited by the bank to be on its legal panel and work as a solicitor for it.
Mr Byrne (47), Walkinstown Road, Crumlin, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 51 counts of theft, forgery and deception between 2004 and 2007.
The former head of credit risk with BoSI, Henry Roach, told the court that Mr Byrne was granted three loans by the bank for the purposes of property development and trading.
The first of these loans was for €4 million secured against 16 properties. The bank was happy to grant this loan despite Mr Byrne being a first-time customer. Documents say this was because Mr Byrne “was well known [to the bank] and is regarded as a valuable connection”. They note that Mr Byrne had a rental income of €498,000 a year, a director’s income of €500,000 a year and his net worth was €6 million.
The second loan was for €900,000 which he sought to buy penthouse apartments in Skerries. The final loan was for €8.7 million. Mr Byrne applied for this with developers John Kelly and Mary O’Connor.
Mr Roach told Remy Farrell SC, prosecuting, that its purpose was to assist in the financing of the purchase of 10 houses in Walkinstown. The site was intended to be used to build an apartment complex.
Damien Colgan SC, defending, said there were several errors in the bank’s documents.
The trial continues.