Two sisters who are "involved in financial services" and who between them own a number of properties in Dublin have secured an interim High Court order restraining a property consultant from reducing his assets below £250,000.
Ms Nadine Thompson and Ms Alicia Daly claim that Mr Leo Coady, Rathfarnham, Dublin, made arrangements unknown to them to let some of their property to asylum-seekers and that Mr Coady must have received £470,000 from their properties over 18 months.
Mr Justice O'Neill, as well as granting the restraining order until Monday against Mr Coady, yesterday granted Mr Gavin Ralston, for the sisters, leave to notify a second defendant, Mr Eamon Daly, solicitor, Lower Dorset Street, Dublin, said to be an uncle of the women, and Ridgeline Properties Ltd, Newtown House, Captain's Hill, Leixlip, Co Kildare, that the case will be before the court again on Monday.
Mr Ralston said there was a risk that the assets of which Mr Coady might be seeking to dispose, might be dissipated. In an affidavit, Ms Thompson said she and her sister were owners of a number of properties acquired at various times from 1997 onwards. These were mortgaged to various financial institutions, in most cases at 100 per cent finance. They were leased at average rents of £800 to £1,000 a month each.
In September 1998, they acquired three properties in a new development at Kilmore Court, Artane, Dublin. Their other sisters, Ms Karina Daly and Ms Lorna Daly, bought a further three houses in Kilmore and the remaining six houses in the development were owned by Mr Daly, the second defendant.
Shortly before completion of the development, Mr Coady and Mr Daly approached the plaintiffs and asked if they would be prepared to engage them to negotiate the letting of these properties to the Eastern Health Board. Ms Thompson said when they discovered that payments were not being made, they phoned the EHB and found there were no letting arrangements in place.
She understood that Mr Coady had represented to the EHB that he or Ridgeline were the registered owners of the properties and "made arrangements, unknown to us, to let individual asylum-seekers into the properties and then claimed rates on a bed-and-breakfast basis".
They learned Mr Coady and Mr Daly had received substantially in excess of the amounts they thought had been agreed as rent, Ms Thompson said.
They were informed that both men had rented out the properties on a bed-and-breakfast per capita basis to individual occupiers at about £20 a night. The plaintiffs believed there were about six people in each property which represented an income to both defendants of £3,300 a month from each house.
During the 18 months the defendants managed the properties, the plaintiffs estimated that Mr Coady must have received in or about £470,000 from occupants of their properties.
They had been informed that Mr Coady and Mr Daly owned several properties. Ms Thompson believed they were in the process of disposing of these assets. If so, there was a likelihood they would dissipate the net proceeds of sale.
Mr Ralston said that because of non-payment of rent, the women fell into mortgage arrears and had to sell some of their properties. Mr Coady, it appeared, had disposed of monies which should have gone to his clients.