Nama seeks to join Dunne bankruptcy case

Nama was not listed as a creditor by Dunne in his bankruptcy filing

The National Asset Management Agency has asked a US court to be notified of any filings or developments in the bankruptcy case of property developer Seán Dunne, one of its biggest debtors.

New court filings by Nama's US lawyers brings the agency into Mr Dunne's bankruptcy proceedings after his bankruptcy halted its case against him and his wife in another court in Connecticut.

Lawyers for the State agency, which has a judgment of €185 million against Mr Dunne, entered an appearance on behalf of Nama in the Connecticut court where he filed for bankruptcy on March 29th.

They asked that "all notices given or required to be given, and all papers served or required to be served" be given to Nama's lawyers, Thomas Rechen and James Regan of McCarter & English, in Hartford, Connecticut, according to a record made available on the court's filing system yesterday.

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Not listed
The agency also asked for its lawyers in the McCarter & English's offices in New Jersey and Boston, Thomas Goodwin and Thomas Curran, to be sent any filings made in Mr Dunne's bankruptcy case.

Nama was not listed as a creditor by Mr Dunne in his bankruptcy filing, although he lists debts to AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

The State bank now in liquidation is managing the affairs of the now defunct Irish Nationwide Building Society, one of his main lenders.

The State agency acquired Mr Dunne’s loans from AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Nationwide.

He told The Irish Times that he had total liabilities of about $500 million (€384 million) but said that he had no more than $10 million worth of assets, leaving his creditors nursing at least 98 per cent losses on their debts.

Mr Dunne automatically put a stay on Nama's legal action against him and his wife, Gayle Killilea, in Connecticut's superior state court in Stamford by filing for bankruptcy in the federal court.


Asset transfer
The agency is suing the couple claiming that his transfer of an asset, a share in a Swiss apartment, to his wife was fraudulent and that he is behind lucrative property developments in Connecticut and New York.

The couple claims these developments are her investments and do not involve Mr Dunne.

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell is News Editor of The Irish Times