€50 in Gillian’s pocket and credit card debt of €91,000
HER husband sold up to 10million records in the glory days of his boyband Westlife, and to childhood sweethearts Gillian and Shane Filan, it must have felt like the good times would never end.
But the glamorous blonde was declared bankrupt a few weeks ago and all the mother of three has to her name is €50 cash in her pocket and €162 in the bank. And with debts of €4.3m it would seem the
Most of the money went on property in the west
Sligo woman’s financial woes won’t be over any time soon. Her straitened financial circumstances are revealed in detail in bankruptcy papers, seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday.
According to a statement of affairs signed by Gillian, she owes €4.6m to a variety of banks and financial institutions. Most of this money, it seems, was given to her by the banks to invest in property in her native Sligo and in Leitrim. However, the biggest outstanding mortgage of all is for the turreted mansion she once called home.
Located just outside Sligo town, the imposing stone-cut residence was valued at €10m during the boom. It sold for €800,000 in 2014, two years after husband Shane was declared bankrupt in 2012.
Bankruptcy papers filed in Dublin by Gillian show that even after its sale, there is still a joint residential mortgage debt of €3m outstanding on the house. This is on top of credit cards bills of €50,000 and €41,228 to Ulster Bank and Bank of Ireland, as well as a joint loan of €1,088,194, a joint overdraft of €20,071 and a second joint loan of €23,203. The papers do not specify other names on these debts, but they state Gillian is financially dependent on her husband.
Meanwhile, the mother of three has a life assurance policy worth €800,000. This coupled with the €50 she has in her pocket, a €162 bank balance, and the proceeds from the pending sale of her property portfolio means her debts exceed her assets by a whopping €4.3m.
According to the Property Price Register, a house called St Helen’s at Rosses Point, Sligo, was bought in 2014. Two months later Shane Filan became the sole registered owner. According to land registry records, it appears he bought the home with a mortgage.
A spokeswoman for the Filans said the couple were in Korea this weekend. When asked about documents showing that Gillian Filan had just €50 cash and €162 in the bank, she said: ‘I don’t have that level of detail.’ Of Shane Filan, she said: ‘He’s paying off a mortgage like everyone else.’