Two trials, evidence that ‘stunned’, and a window into the Celtic Tiger era
THE multi-million-euro theft trial of former solicitor Michael Lynn had to be heard twice after the jury in the first trial failed to reach a verdict.
The first Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial, which took place in the spring of 2022, was heavily laden with financial detail until Lynn took the stand and ‘stunned’ the prosecution and trial judge with allegations he had permission from the banks to take out multiple mortgages on the same properties.
Former Irish Nationwide chief Michael Fingleton loomed large in Lynn’s testimony relating to ‘secret deals’ in which he alleged the banks permitted him to use the loan money for his overseas property developments. Lynn claimed that evidence backing up these secret deals was contained on emails in a server that was in his practice when it was raided in 2007 and which was now missing. His allegations were dismissed by the prosecution as a ‘fabricated pack of lies’ and ‘inherently implausible’.
However, after hearing evidence for 16 weeks, the jury in the first trial was unable to reach a verdict and had to be discharged.
The second trial got under way in October of last year. Set down for a shorter period of eight weeks due to the fact that it was now officially accepted by Lynn that he had received the monies, the trial still spent several weeks listening to evidence from bank officials.
Lynn again robustly defended the charges against him. The missing server did not feature as heavily in the second trial, with fresh prosecution witnesses brought in from the Law Society and Capel Building – Lynn’s office – to give evidence on that issue.
THE CHARGES
Michael Lynn was accused of the theft of around €27million from seven financial institutions. He had denied all the charges. It was the prosecution case that Lynn obtained multiple mortgages on the same properties in a situation where banks were unaware that other institutions were also providing finance.
The financial institutions involved were Bank of Ireland, National Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Ulster Bank, ACC Bank, Bank of Scotland Ireland Ltd and Irish Nationwide Building Society. Anglo did not form part of the trial as it used its own solicitors and secured the first legal charge on Lynn’s loans.
The prosecution case was that Mr Lynn was engaged in ‘a web
Nationwide, from which Lynn was accused of stealing €7.4m. He was convicted on a single count of stealing €508,000 from that institution. In relation to Irish Nationwide, Lynn claimed he signed a ‘memo of understanding’ with bank chief Michael Fingleton in a Dublin hotel in 2006. He said the agreement involved Irish Nationwide providing funding for Lynn’s apartment development in Portugal, with Mr Fingleton set to benefit personally from this arrangement. Mr Fingleton was not well enough to give evidence at trial, the jury was told.
The remaining charges against Lynn were dropped yesterday.
Outlining the prosecution case against Lynn, Karl Finnegan SC said the total amount stolen by Lynn amounted to €18,144,385.
He outlined how Lynn took out multiple bank loans for the same properties, including three loans to fund his multi-million-euro home, Glenlion, in 15 days.
The court heard the two trials spanned a combined total of 89 days and that Lynn spent 1,645 days in prison in Brazil and a further 105 days in custody in Ireland upon his extradition and before he was granted bail. The prosecution asserted that Lynn could have ended his Brazilian incarceration ‘with a stroke of a pen’, but this was disputed by his defence.
Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe also asserted that while the total sum stolen by Lynn amounted to €18m, the total loss to the banks was unknown, with some registering the first legal charge in the loan and others having insurance policies. Judge Nolan ruled the total loss to the banks was probably in the region of €13m.