IBRC secures €16m judgment against Breifne O’Brien
High Court president Nicholas Kearns yesterday said the State-owned bank, formed following the merger between Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, was entitled to summary judgment of the amount it sought against O’Brien.
He is serving a seven-year prison sentence for running a Ponzi scheme that cost his victims millions of euro.
The bank’s application was opposed by O’Brien, who represented himself in the proceedings.
The former businessman, who was accompanied to court by members of the Prison Service, said he has an arguable defence against judgment being made against him and said the matter should go to a full hearing of the court.
IBRC, represented by Joe Jeffers, sought summary judgment against both O’Brien, of Kilmore, Monkstown Grove, Co Dublin, but currently incarcerated in Mountjoy Prison, and his father, Leo O’Brien, arising out of a failure to repay loans advanced by INBS in 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Counsel said the monies were used to purchase investment properties in locations including Cork and Monkstown, Co Dublin. Counsel said that, following a default on repayments, a demand was made by IRBC for the amounts due on the loans.
The demand had not been satisfied, counsel said.
O’Brien argued that he did not have enough time to prepare for the banks’ application. He said he only discovered a few days ago that the application for summary judgment was due before the court.
Another defence he submitted was that a freezing order made against him by the High Court in 2009 had affected his ability to service the loans.
Other grounds O’Brien advanced as to why summary judgment should not be granted included claims that the loans in question were provided as a result of reckless lending and undue influence by INBS.
However, in giving his judgment, Mr Justice Kearns said he was satisfied that O’Brien had not made out an arguable defence to the claim.
He dismissed all grounds advanced by O’Brien, stating that several of them were merely “bald assertions”.
He did not accept that the lack of access to files and documents was a valid argument and added that the proceedings for summary judgment had been there for some time.
The judge rejected claims that the freezing orders in 2009 could be advanced as a arguable defence, the purpose of the freezing orders in 2009 preventing him from reducing his assets below a value of €14.5m was designed to prevent assets from being removed from this jurisdiction.
The freezing order did not prevent him from fulfilling his normal obligations, including making repayments on the loans.
IBRC’s application for judgment in a similar amount against Mr Leo O’Brien was adjourned to a date later next month.
Last October, O’Brien was given a seven-year prison sentence, after he pleaded guilty to 14 sample counts of deception and theft involving around €8.5m between 2003 and 2008.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard O’Brien dishonestly induced five people to advance millions of euro to him to invest in bogus property deals in Manchester, Paris, and Hamburg.
O’Brien also got them to invest money in a bogus linen shipping insurance scheme.
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