Analysis: Spotlight falls on unregulated loan note investments in Ireland  

The wheels were coming off the German Property Group months before 1,800 Irish investors were to learn that their €107m was at risk

The corporate headquarters of German Property Group, formerly called Dolphin Trust, which filed for bankruptcy last July, leading to a scramble among Irish and global investors to secure their investments. Picture: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

There were signs that the wheels were coming off the German Property Group months before 1,800 Irish investors here were to learn that their €107m was at risk.

By the summer of 2019, German media reports had put the spotlight on the lifestyle of Charles Smethurst, the principal director behind the German Property Group, raising red flags about the €1bn he had to collect around the world to pump into properties across Germany.