Gardaí seek Lynn case files from Liechtenstein
Inquiries being made throughout Europe where thief held accounts
GARDAÍ who are pursuing Michael Lynn’s stolen millions are now making formal inquiries in Liechtenstein and other locations throughout Europe where the convicted thief held bank accounts, the MoS can reveal.
Details of the new Liechtenstein money trail have emerged after Mr Lynn’s conviction last December, when gardaí made formal requests from all other EU countries via Interpol.
These inquiries were made as part of a new money laundering investigation launched by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) during Mr Lynn’s theft trial.
In response, the authorities in Liechtenstein have indicated that proceedings against Lynn had commenced and gardaí have now formally sought access to case files on Mr Lynn’s activities there.
A tiny principality of just 37,000 residents, sandwiched in a valley between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein is well-known for its banking secrecy.
For that reason it is favoured by the super-rich and elite criminals alike who use off-shore trusts controlled via Liechtenstein to protect their assets.
Last December, after a mammoth legal saga, Mr Lynn was convicted of stealing €18m from six financial institutions and subsequently imprisoned.
However, when Mr Lynn went on the run in late 2007 he had obtained €80m from banks and a further €13m from clients who paid for yet-to-be-built apartments.
And according to a court affidavit from Lynn prior to his disappearance in 2007 he controlled as many as 72 bank accounts across Europe and beyond.
One of those Liechtenstein accounts was in the name of Caviarteria Technologies – a firm Lynn is believed to have used to siphon off assets and put them beyond the reach of creditors as he went on the run.
Caviarteria Technologies was incorporated by Mr Lynn in February 2007 in Cyprus – another location favoured by those seeking to hide their ill-gotten money.
Gardaí are now awaiting further information from the authorities in Liechtenstein.
This process is hampered by the fact that Liechtenstein does not have its own desk at the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EUROJUST) through which EU states cooperate. But the significance of Caviarteria Technologies – and the bank account it holds in Liechtenstein – has been uncovered in a new book about Mr Lynn. includes details from paperwork that was hurriedly discarded as Mr Lynn’s Portuguese office was
‘Liechtenstein is known for its banking secrecy’
‘Portugal is anxious to question Mr Lynn as well’
frantically cleared out while he was on the run.
One such document is a handwritten page detailing bank transfers worth just under €4m that were made by Mr Lynn in August and September 2007 – just before he absconded.
One of those transfers involves an amount of €1,375,000 to ‘Caviarteria Tec Liechtenstein.’
The book also describes how Mr Lynn used Caviarteria Technologies in a bid to put a valuable Black Sea development site beyond the reach of creditors and the authorities.
In that instance, while he was on the run, Mr Lynn had sold the site to a newly-established Bulgarian firm that was in turn owned by Caviarteria Technologies.
News of the new Liechtenstein money trail probe comes as the Circuit Court heard this week that the authorities in Portugal have seized €3m relating to Mr Lynn.
In an affidavit opened in court on Tuesday, GNECB Detective Sergeant, Shane Curtis, said gardaí are investigating whether the Portuguese funds are linked to the millions stolen by Mr Lynn.
Now that Mr Lynn has been convicted, the authorities in Portugal are understood to be anxious to question Mr Lynn as well as those connected to him about his activities there.
The affidavit also detailed Garda suspicions that Mr Lynn’s €450k Wicklow home and a sum of €2.8m seized in three Irish bank accounts may be related to the proceeds of his crimes too.
The Wicklow home is owned by a firm run by a long-term Bulgarian associate of Mr Lynn’s called Yavor Poptoshev.
Mr Poptoshev is also associated with three new Irish companies whose accounts have been frozen.
The Bulgarian’s Dublin home was raided by gardaí in January as part of an operation that had targeted Mr Lynn’s home as well in addition to three other properties.
Mr Poptoshev was arrested during the raids and charged with refusing to provide passwords to his phones and computers.
He is now pursuing a judicial review into the constitutionality of these charges.
Meanwhile, the DPP is seeking a court order to compel Mr Lynn to explain the provenance of the assets and funds that are apparently linked to him.
Under the Criminal Justice Act 1994 the courts could order Mr Lynn to repay any funds deemed to be the benefits of crimes.
Separately, Mr Lynn has also been ordered to provide a statement of financial means before legal aid is granted for his appeal.
Mr Lynn, who has been on social welfare since his extradition from Brazil in 2018, was granted legal aid for his original trial in 2022 and the retrial last year.
A final bill for these lengthy proceedings is not yet available but they have easily cost the State hundreds of thousands of euro.
As a result, a part of ongoing Garda inquiries relates to whether or not social welfare and Revenue offences may have been committed by Mr Lynn.
In his first trial his wife, Brid
‘Our family supports us, Michael’s on disability’
Murphy, was quizzed under oath about the couple’s finances.
‘Lest there be some idea floating around that money has been squirrelled away – that there’s 20 odd million or something like that – how are you presently surviving?’ she was asked by Mr Lynn’s own defence barrister.
‘We’re on social welfare,’ she told the court. ‘Our families support us. Michael is on disability allowance. He’s on medication.’
Asked again about whether there was ‘a stash anywhere of any money’ she responded;
‘We don’t have any money. We are on social welfare. We are so fortunate that our families are supporting us in Ireland and we have four beautiful children.’
On Thursday the MoS asked the firm representing Mr Lynn if he wanted to comment on any of the matters detailed in this story. In response the firm said they did not have ‘adequate time to take instructions’ from Mr Lynn.