$2m awarded against Turley over ethanol plant start-up

Damages of $2 million were awarded last week by a US court against Dublin businessman Mark Turley arising out of an unjust enrichment claim connected to an ethanol plant in Hungary.

The case was taken by Branimir Catipovic, a Croatian doctor living in the United States, who said he conceived of the idea of establishing an ethanol plant in Croatia while working in an army veterans hospital in Mason City, Iowa.

Mr Catipovic said he got the idea when he studied the ethanol production plant in Mason City and discussed the idea of establishing a European equivalent with Walter Wendland, chief executive of the company that ran the plant.

Turley in Dublin

In 2006 the two men travelled to Croatia and identified a suitable site for a production facility. The next year they travelled to Ireland, where they met Turley to discuss the project. The court was told that Turley was, among other business activities, involved in financing start-ups.

However relations broke down in 2008 and, Mr Catipovic complained, Turley, along with others, went on to pursue the project without him. In 2010 Mr Catipovic discovered that Turley was associated with a similar ethanol production project in Hungary.

The Dublin businessman, who is a brother of Niall and Greg Turley, the founders of cartrawler.com, successfully contested a breach of contract claim from the Croatian doctor. But the Iowa jury in the civil case found against him on the unjust enrichment grounds. The jury awarded $2 million (€1.6 million) to the doctor.

A spokesman for Turley said he did not wish to comment.