Gayle Dunne must produce papers on alleged property transfers

A High Court judge has directed Gayle Dunne, wife of property developer Seán Dunne, must hand over certain documents related to alleged transfers by her husband to her of assets valued at about €100 million.

The documents include Ms Dunne’s tax returns from 2005-2014, insofar as they relate to those assets.

Chris Lehane, the official administering Mr Dunne's Irish bankruptcy, sought the documents for his proceedings against Ms Dunne, disputing two alleged asset transfer agreements between Mr Dunne and his wife in 2005 and 2008.

Those concerned assets include the Lagoon Beach Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, and interests in assets including properties in Co Wicklow and Dublin, among them a property at Shrewsbury Road.

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Mr Dunne filed for bankruptcy in March 2013 in the US state of Connecticut, where he was based.

Some months later, in July, he was adjudicated bankrupt by the High Court in Ireland. He later failed to have that adjudication set aside.

Ms Dunne, with addresses at Greenwich, Connecticut, and London, claims the disputed transfers were entered into as compensation, when she and Mr Dunne started a family, for her foregoing her career as a journalist and a prospective career as a lawyer.

She claims agreements were reached between herself and Mr Dunne in March 2005 and in 2008, and a formal share transfer took place in October 2008. She denies Mr Lehane’s claim the alleged agreements have no legal status and that their intended purpose was to put assets beyond the reach of Mr Dunne’s creditors.

Ms Dunne had argued the application for discovery was “speculative” and would impose an oppressive burden on her.

If she was incorrect in that, she agreed to make discovery in some categories, proposed certain alternative categories, and objected to discovery under two categories: her tax returns and those concerning documents relating to transfer of any interest in the Lagoon Beach Hotel (Proprietary) Ltd; and any loan obligation by Mavior (formerly Mr Dunne's company Mountbrook Homes) to Castorena Ltd, and by Castorena to Volcren Management Ltd, or evidencing her ownership of shares in Enia Investments Ltd.

Rejected arguments

In her reserved judgment on Friday, Ms Justice Caroline Costello rejected arguments that the discovery application was speculative. She expressed satisfaction that the documents sought were relevant and necessary for the court’s objective assessment of the transactions.

The judge said Mr Lehane was entitled to discovery of several categories, including all documents relating to the alleged 2005 and 2008 agreements; documents concerning the reasons for entering those agreements; and also related to the transfer of the Shrewsbury Road property to entities controlled by Ms Dunne.

She dismissed the objections by Ms Dunne concerning the Lagoon Beach category of documents and to the category involving her tax returns from 2005 to the date these proceedings issued, in 2014.

The returns were sought in the context of claims by Mr Lehane that Ms Dunne would be obliged to make a tax return in relation to any asset received for her husband on a particular date, the judge noted.

Ms Dunne is entitled to redact those parts of her returns that do not relate to the assets at issue, the judge said.

Ms Dunne must also discover documents evidencing any involvement by Seán Dunne in management or control of property allegedly transferred to her under the 2005 transaction, and relating to assignment to her of loans, allegedly worth €1.95 million in 2008 and €4 million in 2005, due to Mr Dunne from Mavior and associated companies.