Witness gave €3.7m loan cheque to Lynn
Banker says he delivered the money to off ice of the ex-developer
AT FIRST, no one took any notice of the two men sitting side by side in the back row of Court 22. One of them wore a dark blue business suit and tie. The other was in shirt sleeves.
It would not be long, though, before these men would become the entire focus of the court’s attention.
In the meantime, they watched intently and took careful notes as Ciarán Farrell – a senior Permanent TSB banker – gave evidence in the multi-million euro theft trial of Michael Lynn.
Today Mr Farrell, a red-headed 38-year veteran of Permanent TSB, works as a business development manager in the bank’s St Stephen’s Green HQ.
In 2006-2007 he was branch manager at Blanchardstown, Dublin and Michael Lynn’s main point of contact as he borrowed millions from the bank.
While in this role, the court has heard, Mr Farrell personally collected a €3.7m loan cheque from his bank’s HQ in St Stephens Green and hand-delivered it to Lynn’s office in May 2007.
‘I said: ‘Sure look, instead of paying to get a courier, I’ll deliver it down to you,’ is how Mr Farrell explained the delivery in court this week, adding that he’d been in HQ that day anyway.
This loan is the subject of one of 21 theft charges Lynn now faces.
At the start of his testimony this week, Mr Farrell appeared deferential and nervous.
‘That is correct, sir,’ he repeatedly responded as prosecution barrister Karl Finnegan led him through his career details.
‘Sorry if I explained poorly, but I’m a bit nervous here,’ he apologised soon afterwards.
Introduction over, Mr Finnegan asked the witness about Lynn’s claims, during the first inconclusive trial last year, that he had paid cash to Mr Farrell.
This allegedly in return for ‘secret deals’ under which, Lynn alleges, bankers allowed him to circumvent normal lending rules.
‘No, I never received any monies from Mr Lynn,’ Mr Farrell replied in his distinctive Dublin accent.
Mr Farrell also denied ‘1,000%’ he ever received tickets for Wembley Stadium or a 30% discount offer on a foreign apartment from Mr Lynn.
The prosecution then asked about Mr Farrell’s social relationship with Lynn.
‘There was two tickets for a Dublin match sent to the branch,’ Mr Farrell confirmed, adding that no one in the office had used them so he had gone to the game himself. ‘Mr Lynn had invited me to a concert which I turned down. He invited me to a second one and then he invited me to a third one. This was over a period of time.
‘It was Meatloaf – which isn’t my scene,’ Mr Farrell said. ‘I’d be more Dermot Kennedy, now.’
In cross examination, defence barrister, Paul Comiskey O’Keeffe switched the focus to the two figures at back of the court.
‘You’ve been accompanied to court by some colleagues,’ he said.
Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe noted the two men at the back of the room had also been present a day earlier, when another Permanent TSB witness, John O’Brien, had testified – as Mr Farrell waited outside the courtroom for to take the stand.
‘One of them was coming and going from court and speaking to you during Mr O’Brien’s testimony, isn’t that right?’ he asked Mr Farrell.
It is forbidden for witnesses to speak of their evidence to anyone while on the stand – something trial Judge Martin Nolan has repeatedly stated.
‘We spoke about fantasy football,’ Mr Farrell responded without any hesitation, to laughter from the jury. ‘We didn’t actually talk about the case.’
‘What’s the purpose of you being accompanied to court by colleagues?’ Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe probed.
‘I don’t know,’ Mr Farrell replied. ‘You don’t know,’ Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe repeated.
‘Well, I presume it’s just support,’ Mr Farrell shrugged.
‘Surely, you know precisely what they’re here to do?’ Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe asked. ‘If one of my staff members was in court I’d go along with them,’ Mr Farrell answered. ‘So these gentlemen are here purely for moral support, is that it?
‘Moral support, yes,’ Mr Farrell agreed. Asked what part of the bank they were from, Mr Farrell said the legal department.
‘Someone from the legal department is coming to give you moral support to give evidence in court?’ ‘Yes,’ Mr Farrell replied. Throughout the remainder of this week, the trial heard from a further 10 banking witnesses of various financial institutions from which Lynn is accused of stealing millions in 2006 and 2007. The ex property developer and solicitor is accused of stealing more than €27m from seven banks.
Lynn, 55, with an address in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The court has heard that Lynn’s defence is that, in return for inducements, his bankers allowed him to make false undertakings that his borrowings would be secured against property assets.
This allowed Lynn to promise the same properties as security to different banks, from which he secured millions.
Among those to testify this week was Arthur King from Bank of Ireland, from which Lynn is accused of stealing €2.7m. Mr King confirmed that, in 2014, Bank of Ireland received €4.5m payout from its insurance company, relating to losses from loans to Lynn.
Cross examining Mr King, defence barrister Mark Lynam showed the court internal bank emails from 2004 – years before Lynn is alleged to have stolen funds by failing to register loans against properties as promised.
Those emails confirmed that a Bank of Ireland official had pointed out Lynn’s failure to carry out promised undertakings in 2004 and recommended that he be reported to the Law Society at that time. Under the defence’s questioning, Mr King, who had dealt with Bank of Ireland’s insurance settlement, confirmed the insurers had not been informed of these previous concerns during the bank’s successful claim.
Also testifying on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week was Fiona McAleenan – a former solicitor in Lynn’s legal firm.
She testified that her signature on solicitor undertakings had, on occasions, been forged by Lynn’s personal assistant Liz Doyle.
Ms McAleenan also testified she had signed undertakings herself without reading them – or ensuring that conditions would be complied with.
She denied she had been a partner of Lynn’s firm, or any knowledge of double loans obtained by way of unfulfilled undertakings and denied she had any involvement or knowledge in the accounts
‘The legal dept is giving you moral support?’
‘That is lies that I received €50,000’
of Lynn’s firm
Cross examining Ms McAleenan, the defence produced records, including emails from her Blackberry phone, showing her apparent involvement in transfers from the accounts of Lynn’s firm in 2007.
These indicated Ms McAleenan provided undertakings for Liz Doyle that resulted in double mortgages on the same property.
Pressed about these emails, Ms McAleenan said she had no memory of them. She added she had not read the undertaking she had signed for Liz Doyle.
Ms McAleenan denied Lynn’s assertion that he had paid her €50,000 when she was buying her home.
‘That is lies that I received €50,000,’ she told the court.
Instead, she recalled that she had asked for a pay rise at the time and had received a ‘brown envelope’ containing €10,000 from Lynn.
‘When you got the €10,000 in brown envelope, I take it it wasn’t a cheque?’ Judge Nolan asked.
‘It was cash,’ Ms McAleenan answered. The trial continues.