Corruption, bribery... and Michael Lynn’s Faustian pact with a Chechen gangster
Book reveals disgraced solicitor’s dishonest Balkan deals
CONVICTED thief Michael Lynn partnered with notorious mafia crooks in Bulgaria and paid bribes to secure planning permission, a new book reveals.
Fugitive: The Michael Lynn Story – which is out now – also includes Lynn’s own assessment of his corrupt dealings with Balkan underworld figures.
‘I cannot say I was raped as an innocent,’ is the self-incriminating way Lynn described his corrupt engagement with Bulgarian criminals.
As a result of a deal Lynn struck with feared Black Sea criminals, the former solicitor was able to secure valuable beach-front land from local farmers for a fraction of its true value – all in the name of making millions for himself.
‘These farmers were under pressure to sell for €5 per square metre for something that costs €55 per square metre,’ Lynn previously told the author.
‘Okay – basically that’s terrible. I don’t want you quoting me, but in the Celtic
‘Mother of God, what am I involved in here?’
Tiger it was what can I get? What can I sell it for? How’s she cutting?’
Delivered in his Mayo accent with a ‘who cares’ shrug, Lynn’s callous words lay bare his contempt for the law if he saw an opportunity to make money.
During Lynn’s recent trial and retrial, he sensationally claimed to have paid bribes and kickbacks to various bankers – without producing any evidence. These claims were then denied by each banker and Lynn was convicted of stealing nearly €18m from various banks.
But there is evidence of Lynn’s corruption and bribery in Bulgaria as he pursued an opportunity to make tens of millions – at the same time as he was duping Irish banks.
One opportunity arose in February 2006 when Lynn met a Chechen living in Ireland at a property exhibition in the RDS. The Chechen – a go-between to violent mafia figures in Bulgaria – pitched a €1.6m development opportunity to Lynn involving a Black Sea site at Shkorpilovtsi.
A detailed brochure for the deal promised the project could yield profits in excess of €37m, and Lynn would go on to secure planning for 1,000 apartments there. But there was a catch. The deal was corrupt from the start and involved bribing a local authority official in Bulgaria with a €30,000 ‘gift’ – something that did not faze Lynn.
This bribe was even written into the proposal presented to Lynn in Dublin. It was also listed on the finder’s fee invoice the Chechen finder sent Lynn – which he paid via an Irish bank transfer.
Aside from bribery, the deal brought Lynn into contact with some of Bulgaria’s most notorious crooks. These criminals included figures such as Yahiya Megomedovich Hashiev, a notorious Chechen gangster and mafia lord who has been imprisoned in Bulgaria for VAT fraud.
Hashiev, who was based in the Black Sea port of Varna, is also linked to a vicious gang involved in raising funds for terrorism, extortion and human trafficking.
Lynn said of his first meeting with Hashiev: ‘I went over to Bulgaria, and I was greeted in Varna by him and his people – all of them carrying pieces. All with bulletproof vests. I thought: “Mother of God; what am I involved in here?”’
What he was involved in was corruption and bribery at a considerable cost to others. After strong-arming dozens of locals to sell their coastal land for a pittance,
Hashiev and his associates packaged the deal and sold it to Lynn via their Irish-based go-between.
Property records in Bulgaria confirm that half the land was sold to Lynn’s firm through a company associated with Hashiev’s wife.
The remainder was sold to Lynn by a Varna politician, Cristo Danov, who has been linked to gunrunning, prostitution, money laundering and human trafficking.
Once the land was secured by Lynn, his criminal associates set about ensuring planning permission would go smoothly.
In his contract with Lynn’s property development firm Kendar, Hashiev promised – for a price of €138k – to ensure the land, which was protected as a nature reserve, would be rezoned to allow building. This was achieved via the chief architect of the local council, Simeon Saraliev, who was a crucial contact if planning for hundreds of apartments in an ecologically sensitive area was to be achieved.
The €30,000 ‘gift’ listed in the original deal sold to Lynn in Dublin went to Saraliev. The invoice sent to Lynn by the Chechen gobetween in Dublin itemised the ‘gift’, describing its purpose as: ‘Assistance to get the contract for the project preparation with architect Saraliev.’
In return the city architect – a public servant responsible for planning in his district – contrived to have Kendar’s design work completed by a company owned by his own daughter, Liana, who is also an architect.
Liana’s company, DZZD Ecoconsult, signed a design contract with Kendar for €1.2m and issued a receipt for an initial payment of €40,000 which Kendar paid immediately by bank transfer. Based on a price of €16 per square metre the design project price was far in excess of the €4.50 that such work would normally command.
Saraliev died in 2008 and his daughter did not respond to a request for comment from the MoS this week. But this newspaper has obtained the contract her firm signed and the receipt it issued for the initial payment.
With both Hashiev and the town architect on Kendar’s payroll, Lynn could be assured that all permissions would be granted. But there were other problems with Hashiev and frequent disputes about delays and payment. This resulted in Hashiev issuing mafialike threats to Lynn and his staff.
By early February 2007, correspondence reveals Hashiev threatening Lynn’s manager, Turkish citizen Haldun Senyuva. At one point he demanded €50,000 because ‘I feel humiliated’... ‘Kendar is showing disrespect. I don’t allow this to anyone,’ wrote Hashiev, who once survived an assassination attempt. ‘When two camels have sex and there is a fly between them – it dies... you are no longer of interest to me. I don’t believe the Bulgarian State will mind if I f*** one Turkish a***.’
Lynn, who was stealing millions from Irish banks at the time, responded directly and defended his manager. ‘Yahia [sic], please refrain from any further threats to Haldun. Please understand that if you threaten Haldun you also threaten me.’
The tension led to a split and Lynn severed all contracts with Hashiev and his associates. But by then Lynn was on the run, having absconded from Ireland after his banking deceptions were rumbled.
A lawyer representing Lynn told the MoS on Thursday they would be unable to reach him for comment before publication.
Fugitive: The Michael Lynn Story, by Michael O’Farrell, is in shops now priced at €19.99.