Fears disgraced solicitor has fled after court no-show

FEARS that solicitor and property developer Michael Lynn may have fled the jurisdiction heightened yesterday after he failed to show up in the High Court to answer questions about a series of controversial property dealings.

Gardaí have been ordered to arrest Mr Lynn and take him into custody before bringing him before the High Court today at 11am.

However, the court heard that the solicitor was in London earlier this week.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Richard Johnson, issued the order allowing gardaí to arrest Mr Lynn after hearing the solicitor was in breach of a court order compelling him to attend the High Court on December 12-13 for cross-examination by the Law Society.

The legal profession’s regulatory body is investigating how Mr Lynn obtained multiple mortgages on the same properties from Irish banks as well as his use of client accounts to finance such investments.

It is estimated that the solicitor — who is also under investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Fraud Investigation — may have total liabilities of €80 million. Mr Lynn’s personal bank accounts and assets, as well as those of his associated companies, including his property firm Kendar Holdings, have been frozen.

His legal practice Capel Law has also been shut down by the Law Society and he has given an undertaking not to practice as a solicitor.

Mr Lynn, 39, who is originally from Co Mayo, was not asked to surrender his passport.

Last night, legal sources indicated that it was unlikely that the authorities would seek Mr Lynn’s extradition if he remains abroad as he is not facing any criminal charges. Mr Lynn failed last Monday in his application to have yesterday’s hearing adjourned on the basis that he was hiring a new firm of solicitors to act for him.

Shane Murphy SC for the Law Society said Mr Lynn’s actions showed the solicitor was clearly aware that he was required to attend the High Court yesterday.

His former barrister, Paul Burns, told the court that Mr Lynn had issued instructions last week by text to his previous solicitor Seán Sexton.

The court heard the solicitor’s wife, Brid Murphy, had last seen her husband in the offices of London legal firm, Merriman White, on Monday evening before she flew home to Dublin.

The former nurse is understood to have spoken to her husband by phone on Tuesday when he was still in London.

Merriman White also have a colourful history as its legal consultant, Ray St John Murphy, who notified Mr Lynn’s former legal representatives last Monday that his firm were taking over the case, was fined £25,000 (€34,840) earlier this year for professional misconduct.

Calls to Merriman White seeking information on Mr Lynn’s whereabouts were not returned yesterday.