The leader of a mysterious trust, which thousands of debtors believed would protect €2bn worth of assets, has been arrested after moving into one of the properties signed into his organisation.

Charles Allen Snr has spent most of this year dodging questions, but this morning he will be required to provide answers.

Packed into a foyer and a small bar at a country hotel in Wicklow, dozens of debtors came to sign away properties they have been fighting desperately to keep out of the clutches of the banks.