The sister of DJ Carey is linked to ‘shadowy’ property trust
In a special investigation the MoS reveals how Rodolphus Trust operates,
THE sister of hurling star DJ Carey, Catriona Carey, is a key participant in a trust, which, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal, has been reported to the gardaí and which stands to take at least a €100m ownership stake in the properties of its members, if its campaign against financial institutions is successful.
Catriona Carey, 35, is one of three main players – alongside the figurehead Charlie Allen and a David Walshe – who are associated with the administration of the Rodolphus Allen Family Trust, which claims it already has well in excess of €1bn in distressed property on its books since its formation in July.
Two years ago, Miss Carey was at the centre of a controversial feud with her brother DJ Carey following a Garda probe into financial irregularities at his industrial
‘We’ve found a flaw in mortgage deeds’
cleaning company – initiated at Mr Carey’s request. Miss Carey, a qualified accountant, was financial controller and a director of her brother’s company.
It is just one of the revelations that an MoS investigation has uncovered in relation to the mysterious trust, including:
The trust has this week been referred to gardaí by Fianna Fáil senator Thomas Byrne after he became concerned about its activities following a meeting with the three main protagonists in June.
The trust operates on a cash-only basis, apparently collecting over €1.1m based on a minimum €525 fee for a prospective member with one property to register. Most entrants register several properties.
Prospective members sign over their properties and the power of attorney on the lands to the trust without being told about the secret legal strategy the trust claims it will employ against banks – or who their legal team will be.
Trust bosses say that, at the end of the process, it will claim 10% of the value of the member’s debt – and that if members don’t have the cash, the trust will take an equity stake in their properties or allow the debt be repaid in rent. Such a stake could be worth €100m by their own figures.
It claims to be oversubscribed but this week made repeated efforts to encourage our MoS reporter to sign over her property and part with €725 in fees.
A distressed property owner said she was directly approached by a man purporting to be from the trust after an appearance on RTÉ this week. This contradicts the trust’s claim that indirect word-of-mouth contact is used for recruitment.
Senator Thomas Byrne confirmed that he has filed a complaint to gardaí about the trust and its activities, following a meeting with Mr Allen in Leinster House in July: ‘I took the meeting because a constit- uent was in mortgage distress and said he had heard about this organisation that could help. I met Mr Allen and another man and a woman. Mr Allen told me: “We’ve found a flaw in mortgage deeds.” I told him I was a solicitor and I asked if he had a website. He said: “It’s word of mouth only.”’ Mr Byrne said that when he mentioned New Beginning (which assists distressed property owners) the meeting ended. He said: “This meeting is over.” It was bizarre. The whole thing lasted probably less than a minute.’
The issue was then raised by Mr Byrne in the Seanad but he decided to report it to gardaí.
‘The people who appear to be joining are already in dire straits and I am concerned for them. I am also asking what is happening to the monies being paid into the trust.’
The trust – to which Miss Carey is now attached in an administrative capacity – claims to have more than 2,000 members.
Established on July 2 this year, it has a €1bn property portfolio and stands to make over €100m if its legal strategy succeeds.
The MoS attended a meeting held at Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny last Tuesday, in which trust proprietor Charles Allen stated: ‘Ideally, I would get 10% of the property value. If the property is in receivership, it’s a 50/50 split.’
At the same meeting, Mr Allen’s associate David Walshe told this reporter, who was posing as a distressed property owner: ‘If you don’t have the cash, we will take an equity stake or collect rents.’
After stating the trust’s intention
‘If you don’t have cash
we will collect rents’
to take a percentage or a split of their properties, Mr Allen, 55, told the meeting: ‘I’m the administrator, not a beneficiary.’
Mr Allen said ‘a legal strategy is in place’ and advised those present: ‘When you get a telephone call (from the banks), you say you can’t take the call and you use our Prior Park email address. The trust will deal with the rest. Once you’re in a trust, the banks can’t take you to court.’
A total of 16 men and two women attended Tuesday’s meeting. It was scheduled for the Kilford Arms Hotel, Kilkenny, but the venue was changed to Lyrath Estate an hour before. Sources say a last-minute switch of venue is not uncommon.
One property developer, who is indebted to various banks for €15m and who attended one of the earliest meetings at Mount Juliet Estate in Kilkenny in July, said: ‘The atmosphere in the room felt biblical. Charlie Allen sat there and we were given Catriona Carey’s contact details and told that she was acting as an administrator.
‘We were just to sign everything into the trust and pay the joining fees. I went with two other guys and all three of us agreed it just didn’t feel right.’
At the meeting in Kilkenny last week, property owners were told that the trust is relying upon article 40.5 of the Constitution, which states that ‘the dwelling of every citizen is inviolable’.
The meeting was one of several which have been held since the trust was founded in July.
Mr Allen is the owner of a landscape gardening company, Prior Park, Inistioge, Kilkenny, according to Companies Registration Office records and was also a Director of Rickcar Limited – a construction company that was dissolved in 2007.
While not a lot is known about Mr Allen, according to sources who know him he owned a scrap yard in Timahoe, Co. Laois in the late 1980s. In the mid 1990s he moved to Rathangan, Co. Kildare.
Mr Allen was seen as a man focused on his image: ‘He was regarded as being very generous to others, especially those who worked for him. Money was never an issue with him. But he looked after himself as well. He had his hair permed into a grey curl on a regular basis. He always wore a gold chain or