A struck-off solicitor has been jailed for two years for his role in deceiving a bank to lend almost €9 million for land now worth €30,000.
Former solicitor John Duffy (44) sent false letters to Investec Bank on behalf of co-accused Tony McAuliffe (78) to get a loan for 55 acres in Co Offaly in 2007.
McAuliffe received a fully suspended 2½-year sentence for his role. Judge Leonie Reynolds accepted McAuliffe has borderline intellectual functioning and deteriorating health.
McAuliffe, a former jockey, Furze, Kildare, and Duffy, Clogheen, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to dishonestly obtaining a loan from Investec Bank with intent of making gain in March 2007. They have no previous convictions.
Through Duffy, McAuliffe promised the bank that he had a buyer with a €7 million deposit for the land and its sand and gravel deposits. The plan was to sell the property to this buyer, a company called Conway Clarke, for €17 million.
Judge Reynolds commented that Investec Bank’s failure to carry out “rudimentary” background checks was reflective of the “lax lending practices” of financial institutions at that time. She suggested that the bank could have exposed the fraud if it had conducted such checks on the parties involved.
Det Garda Sgt Pat Linehan had earlier revealed that Conway Clarke was a company set up with McAuliffe’s daughter and a family friend acting as directors.
Investec agreed to fund the full land purchase price on the understanding that it was to be a bridging loan and would be repaid within two months. The bank was not aware that Conway Clarke had been established by McAuliffe.
Before finalising the deal, he and Duffy handed over several documents to Investec including a valuation of the land as worth €12 million. Duffy got an extension on the loan repayment date after he told an Investec representative that the deal had been delayed through illness and one of the parties being on holiday.
In the meantime, McAuliffe used his daughter to get €100,000 from her credit union account to pay interest on the bank loan. He tried to secure buyers and put ads for the land in newspapers between May and June 2007, as the economy continued into decline. Eventually Investec went to the High Court after a potential purchase from a builder fell through.
Judge Reynolds noted that Duffy’s former firm with his former partner had to pay out an indemnity insurance settlement. She said his behaviour had been a “serious breach of trust” in his position as solicitor. She accepted there had been no monetary gain for Duffy because the purchase on the land never went through. The judge said she was also taking into consideration Duffy’s personal circumstances, including his marital breakdown.
She imposed a sentence of three years but suspended the final 12 months of his sentence, taking into account his previous good character, co-operation and remorse. Judge Reynolds noted that McAuliffe had “significant cognitive impairment” as had been outlined to her by his defence at the sentence hearing. She suspended McAuliffe’s sentence for 2½ years.