FORMER SOLICITOR Thomas Byrne is to stand trial accused of stealing and defrauding about €52 million in connection with mortgages taken out from six financial institutions on more than 20 properties.
The 45-year-old had a solicitor’s practice in Walkinstown, west Dublin, before he was struck off, and has been under Garda investigation for several years. He is now charged with 52 offences in what is one of the first high-profile criminal prosecutions arising from the property market’s collapse.
The charges relate to Mr Byrne’s alleged failure to discharge loans and stamp duty fees on behalf of clients who had given him large sums of money to settle those matters.
A much larger number of charges relate to the allegedly dishonest manner in which Mr Byrne applied for loans on properties, including allegedly securing loans from a number of financial institutions on the same property.
The properties at the centre of the case are all in Dublin, including a development of apartments on Dorset Street in the north inner city, as well as other properties in Crumlin, Clondalkin and different parts of south Dublin.
In December, the ex-lawyer was charged by fraud squad detectives with dishonestly appropriating the sum of €1,887,415 entrusted to him for the purpose of discharging a loan with Permanent TSB.
He was also accused of stealing €198,742, which had been given to him for the purpose of paying stamp duty on the purchase of the apartment building at Upper Dorset Street.
On December 9th last, Mr Byrne was remanded on bail having appeared in court in relation to those initial charges. He appeared again at Dublin District Court yesterday to be charged with additional offences.
Dressed in a light grey and pink pin-striped suit, the former solicitor remained silent as Judge John O’Neill heard that 50 additional charges under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act had been brought against him.
Mr Byrne, of Walkinstown Road, Dublin, who also has an address at Aungier Street, Dublin, has not yet indicated how he intends to plead.
He now faces 14 counts of making false instruments, including deeds of transfer and assignments of properties; eight counts of using false instruments; nine charges of deception; and 21 theft charges in connection with mortgages taken out on more than 20 private residences across Dublin.
It is alleged Mr Byrne stole sums totalling about €52 million from National Irish Bank, IIB, Irish Nationwide Building Society, EBS, Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Scotland, between 2004 and September 2007.
Det Sgt Paschal Walsh, of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, told the judge the extra charges were put to Mr Byrne yesterday before court started.
“In reply to each charge, he made no comment,” Det Sgt Walsh added.
Solicitor Catherine Irvine, for the State, told the judge, “the DPP has directed trial on indictment in relation to all the charges”.
She also said the book of evidence in the case would be completed in four weeks.
The judge acceded to a request from defence counsel Seán Ó Siothchain for legal aid to be granted in relation to the new charges brought against Mr Byrne.
The judge also agreed to extend bail terms.
He remanded Mr Byrne on bail to appear again in four weeks, when he is to be served with a book of evidence.