Irish solicitor Michael Lynn had a home in one of the richest suburbs of São Paulo, Brazil's commercial capital, and ran a property company from a vacant office unit in a run-down district in the northern city of Recife.
Documents obtained by The Irish Times show that as recently as last year, Mr Lynn and his wife Bríd Murphy declared their principal home at an address in Jardins, one of the most expensive suburbs of São Paulo.
They are also joint owners of a property firm whose capital grew six-fold to €591,000 last year. The address listed for the company, Quantum Assessoria e Empreendimentos (Quantum Consulting and Ventures) Ltd, is a small room with no furniture or files. It faces on to an unpaved road in the Recife suburb of Candeias, close to where Mr Lynn and his wife rent a house.
The occupant of an adjoining office recognised Mr Lynn from a photograph and confirmed he rented the unit, but said the Irish man had not been there for several months. When contacted, the building’s landlord said he was aware of Mr Lynn’s arrest but declined to comment further.
The 44-year-old, who fled Ireland in 2007 with debts of €80 million, was arrested in Recife last week following an extradition request from the Irish authorities.
Joint-owners
Records held by the Pernambuco Trade Board show the property firm was established in October 2011, with Mr Lynn and his wife as joint-owners and a Brazilian lawyer as company secretary. When the Brazilian formally ended his involvement with the company in September 2012, Ms Murphy assumed full administrative control. The files, which describe Mr Lynn as a lawyer and his wife as a businesswoman, reveal that in May last year the owners raised the firm's declared capital from €98,000 to €591,000. The company's activities include the purchase and sale of property as well as consulting services in the sector.
One of Mr Lynn's projects was a residential property venture in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, 35km south of Recife. It is understood Mr Lynn and his wife also established a property company in Fortaleza, 800km to the north of Recife.
