and The High Court has made orders freezing assets of directors of a third-level college that ceased trading several weeks ago. The orders were sought by the liquidator of Eden College, Anthony J Fitzpatrick, against Fakir Hossain and his wife Hasina Akter, due to fears that €403,000 allegedly owed to creditors, which includes hundreds of Eden’s former students, may be transferred out of the country.
At the High Court yesterday, Mr Fitzpatrick secured a number of temporary injunctions, under the 2001 Company Law Enforcement Act, preventing the couple from reducing their assets below €403,000.
The injunctions were granted by Mr Justice Anthony Barr on an ex-parte basis, where only one side was represented in court. He adjourned the action to next Wednesday.
Ronnie Hudson, for Mr Fitzpatrick, told the court the freezing orders were required “as a matter of urgency.” The liquidator’s investigations had revealed that more than a dozen withdrawals of “lump sums” totalling €403,000 were made from the company’s bank account, between September 2012 and February 2014.
Mr Hossain, a native of Bangladesh, who has no other business interests or income in Ireland, was the sole signatory on the company’s bank account, Mr Hudson said.
It was in the best interest of the college’s former students and other creditors that orders freezing the asset of both Mr Hossain and his wife be granted, he added.
The liquidator is also seeking orders compelling the couple to pay back the €403,000 and a declaration that the withdrawals by Mr Hossain represent a fraud on the creditors of Eden College.