A pattern is beginning to emerge of NAMA suing developers and their wives personally with the latest application in Dublin’s High Court yesterday against Howard Holdings founder Greg Coughlan and his wife Ann Coughlan. Cork-based Howard Holdings has been in severe financial difficulties since 2010, the UK arm of the operation was wound up, and banks including Anglo pursued the directors of the group Greg Coughlan, Brendan Murtagh and Brian Madden. Greg Coughlan reportedly fled the country after the courts ordered his arrest for failing to supply a statement of assets to investors pursuing him for €28m. At its peak Howard Holdings was reputed to have €4bn of projects on the go in Ireland, the UK, Portugal and Poland. In July 2012, the couple’s self-built mansion in Kinsale came onto the market with a price tag of €3.75m, it is understood the property is in the name of Ann Coughlan only.
The High Court case reference is 2012/3671 S. The applicant is National Asset Loan Management Limited represented by Cork-headquartered solicitors Ronan Daly Jermyn. The respondents are Gregory Coughlan and Ann Coughlan, and as is usual with recently-filed application, there is no solicitor on record for the respondents.
Yesterday, we learned that NAMA was suing Liam Carroll and his wife Roisin. Earlier this month, NAMA sued John McCabe Senior and family including his wife Mary . Earlier this year NAMA sued Limerick developer Ger O’Rourke and his wife Majella.
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 30 separate actions in Dublin’s High Court and has been on the receiving end of six.
UPDATE: 24th April, 2013. NAMA has confirmed in its Q4,2012 report that it is pursuing Greg and Ann Coughlan for €376,161.03
NAMA Wine Lake 
In the case of the wives and the children, it’s purely vindictiveness. Better to try and eradicate totally so there’s no one left to take revenge in the future…I think the minders will be surprised.
@NWL does NAMA ever attempt to leak stories to you, point you in a direction or exert editorial control?
And that is not me denigrating your invaluable and conscientious work on this blog! Just curious…
@Mossy, I can authoritatively say that NAMA is probably one of the very few organisations in this State that doesn’t leak. It has a very democratic and transparent way of releasing information, where a lowly blog gets the same information at the same time as the mighty mainstream media. And no, there is no pointing in directions or other input, though when NAMA has rejected claims, obviously that is reflected.
If “the wives and children” are co-borrowers or guarantors, as they often, or have had assets transferred to the them by ‘the husbands’ with the intention of frustrating the efforts of creditors to get the money they’re owed, there’s nothing vindictive about it in the slightest.
He fled the country *and* he fled his wife? So which does he fear most, NAMA or the wife?
Where does it say that “he fled his wife”? Who’s to say what contact there is between two spouses, one of which is another jurisdiction?
Might be better to have the brackets in the heading around the words ‘who fled country’:
NAMA sues developer (who fled country) and his wife
Just a bit of fun with the headline :)
“NAMA sues developer who fled country (and his wife)”
Morto, should have read the headline, as well as everything else!
[…] But Kilquane Limited is a company owned by Howard Holdings, a major NAMA borrower whose principal Greg Coughlan has fled the country. So, moral umbrage at the pre-pack receivership seems misplaced in this instance. NAMA developer […]