This week is going from bad to worse for developer John McCabe; just a week ago, NAMA had receivers appointed to four of his companies including the flagship company McCabe Builders Limited. This action by NAMA in itself was to head off a winding up application by manpower company MCR Personnel. And then yesterday, news filtered through that John was presently in Bahrain seeking the return of a €2m advance fee paid to a company called Western Gulf Advisory in return for €360m financing, financing which never ultimately materialised. And today, we learn that yesterday, NAMA made a total of five separate applications in Dublin’s High Court.
In each of the five cases – whose references are 2012/3452 S, 2012/3453 S, 2012/3454 S, 2012/3455 S and 2012/9099 P – the applicant is National Asset Loan Management Limited represented by Dublin top-tier solicitors, McCann FitzGerald. The respondents are
(1) John McCabe Senior and John McCabe Junior (case reference 2012/3452 S)
(2) Mary McCabe (2012/3453 S)
(3) John McCabe Senior, John McCabe Junior, Mary McCabe, Helen McCarthy, Angela McCabe, Pauline McCabe (2012/3454 S)
(4) John McCabe Junior, Mary McCabe, Angela McCabe, Pauline McCabe, Sandra McCabe (2012/3455 S)
(5) John McCabe Senior, John McCabe Junior, Mary McCabe, Helen McCarthy, Angela McCabe, Pauline McCabe, Sandra McCabe (2012/9099 P).
As is usual with recently-filed applications, there is no solicitor on record for the respondents.
In the past, NAMA has taken legal action against individuals to enforce personal guarantees or to secure personal judgments, but it should be stressed that we do not know if either of these objectives lies behind the current application. NAMA generally doesn’t comment on individual legal cases.
So far this year, NAMA has launched 27 separate actions in Dublin’s High Court and has been on the receiving end of six.
UPDATE: 12th September, 2012. It is reported today that NAMA yesterday secured 3-day injunctions against the McCabes preventing them disposing of assets over €5,000. The orders expire on Friday (14th September). NAMA is said to be concerned that €6.2m of assets may already have been dissipated or misappropriated by the McCabes including (1) €1.43m in rent relating to the Ashbourne Business Park in Co Meath (2) €1.4m in payments to directors by McCabe Builders (Dublin) (3) €0.9m rent paid by McEniff hotel group for the Ardmore Hotel in Glasnevin (4) €1.7m in equity released from a Mayfair apartment and the McCabe’s Rath Stud.
SBP says this is about blocking alleged off-shore asset transfers.
@JP, a Sunday Times journalist tweeted that the applications were to obtain judgment orders but yes Paul Kehoe at the SBP is saying it’s to stop €6m being transferred outside the State.
I smell the hand of my old friends from Kroll here with follow-on leaked justification to the Sunday media by the NAMA spin doctors. I had intimate knowledge of one of Kroll’s operatives a few years back. They were masters (and mistresses) of the black arts.
Do you seriously think that the Irish Mail on Sunday taped Sean Quinn Junior in Kiev all by themselves? With the state of the Irish newspaper business, they couldn’t afford the fare to get there! No, this is Kroll – NAMA’s new snoops, just following the money. The similarity to Sean Quinn’s Ukrainian situation is uncanny.
The whole story would make a great novel – but the world’s No.1 snoops don’t tell tales – they use their clandestine skills to collect information that allows their clients to leak snippets to the MSM in order to justify subsequent legal actions.