Wife of Seán FitzPatrick starts court fight for assets

CATRIONA FitzPatrick, the wife of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick, has begun her High Court case to share her husband’s ‘substantial’ investments.

Mrs FitzPatrick is opposed by the bankruptcy trustee, Chris Lehane, and by the State-owned IBRC, which acquired Anglo after its collapse.

They say the 18 assets in dispute were held in the sole name of her husband and should be divided among his creditors. Those assets include investments in Poland, Berlin and the UK the court heard.

Mr FitzPatrick was adjudicated a bankrupt in 2010 with debts of €147million and assets said to be worth €47million. He exited bankruptcy nearly four years ago.

Mrs FitzPatrick’s counsel, Gerard Durcan SC, told the court that her claim, first made in 2012, was based on ‘old-style family law’. He told Judge Marie Baker: ‘We say she is entitled to a share in trust because the monies to purchase and fund these assets were jointly put into it.

‘Therefore, the presumption in law is that even if it goes into one person’s name, that person holds the other person’s share for them.

The court heard that Mr Lehane is holding €45million, which he has realised from assets connected to Mr FitzPatrick. Forensic accountant Frank Walsh outlined his efforts to trace the source of funding for 18 investments which are in dispute.

He said many were based on loans that had been paid into joint Anglo accounts held by Mr and Mrs FitzPatrick, and that interest had been paid from their joint deposit accounts. In February 2009, Mr Walsh said a number of loan facilities were consolidated into a new loan facility, worth around €40million. The loan was called in, in November 2009, the court heard. The loan was subsequently reduced by €8.5million.

IBRC claims that Mrs FitzPatrick, of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, has no legal or beneficial interest in assets held in the sole name of her husband.