Fitzpatrick's net income down to €188 per month

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman and bankrupt Sean Fitzpatrick has a net income of just €188 per month, documents furnished to the High Court have revealed.

A statement of affairs, provided to the court as part of Mr Fitzpatrick's bankruptcy proceedings yesterday, also disclosed that the former bank chief has debts of more than €145m, compared to assets of just over €47m.

The High Court was also informed during today's brief hearing that now state-owned Anglo Irish Bank withdrew their application to have their own trustee appointed to control Fitzpatrick to replace the court-appointed official assignee Mr Chris Lehane, who was given control over Mr Fitzpatrick's assets.

Paul Gardiner SC for Anglo, who claim they are owed €110m by Mr Fitzpatrick, told Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne that the bank no longer wished to proceed with its motion to have a trustee appointed over the bankruptcy to replace Mr Lehane. Anglo sought to have its own trustee appointed in order to have more control over the bankruptcy process.

Mark Sanfey SC for Mr Fitzpatrick, who was present in court, said that his client had furnished a statement of his affairs as required under the bankruptcy proceedings. Ken Bredin Bl for Mr Lehane said Mr Fitzpatrick was cooperating with the process.

The Judge also made an order passing the statutory hearing, which means that the bankruptcy process will continue under Mr Lehane, who will discharge Mr Fitzpatrick's assets for the benefit of creditors. There were no objections against the court making that order.

In the statement of affairs, Mr Fitzpatrick revealed that his current income is €188 per month. He receives €3,693 per month net of tax, as payment from an Irish Life annuity. However the statement shows that Mr Fitzpatrick makes a net loss of €3,505 per month on three properties, he jointly owns, which he rents out.

Mr Fitzpatrick receives a rental income of more than €50,000 per year from a house in Bray, and apartments at Smithfield Market, Dublin and Killiney Court, Killiney. However the figures show that when mortgage repayments and other overheads such as insurance and management fees are taken into account, he makes a net monthly loss of €3,505 on the properties.

Mr Fitzpatrick's statement also shows that he is joint owner of his family home and another house in Greystones, and an apartment in Marbella, Spain. Only the Marbella apartment is not subject to a mortgage

The statement lists his assets, which include property interests in the UK, France, Hungary, South Africa and the US. The statement shows other assets including his interests in Nigerian oil and gas firm Ekeh and with the Quinlan property group.

He also holds a number of investment portfolios, including ones with a number of stockbrokers firms NCB, Davys and Goodbody's as well as investment banks Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. He also has 4.9 million Anglo shares that are worth nothing.

He also provided details of money he has held in various bank accounts in Dublin. His other listed assets include a 1992 BMW, which has no value, and an 2008 Volkswagen Passat worth €10,000.

According to the statement of affairs, sworn by Mr Fitzpatrick earlier this week, the former Anglo boss has secured debts, mainly owed to financial institutions, of €84.299m. The vast majority of that debt, more than €73m, is owed to Anglo. The other debtors include Ulster Bank, AIB, Bank Of Ireland Scotland, Friends First and Haven Mortgages Ltd.

The statement also lists Mr Fitzpatrick's unsecured debts as €61m. These include contingent liabilities of €9.3m for personal guarantees made in respect of Mr Fitzpatrick's adult children and €46.65m for personal guarantees he made in respect of various investments.

The Revenue Commissioners have also made a number of demands for approximately €3.5m from Mr Fitzpatrick, several of which are currently under appeal.

Last July the High Court officially declared Mr Fitzpatrick a bankrupt after being informed he was "bowing to the inevitable" having failed to get sufficient support from his creditors for a private settlement scheme to pay off his debts.

It was argued that the scheme would provide a "significantly better" outcome for the creditors than if he were to be declared a bankrupt. However, this was disputed by Anglo, and it refused to support the arrangement.