Trustee seeks to compel Dunne to answer

The trustee managing Seán Dunne's bankruptcy case in the US has sought a court hearing to have the property developer in contempt to force him to answer questions and hand over documents, including details of income paid to his wife, Gayle Killilea.

Bankruptcy lawyer Richard Coan sought the hearing at Connecticut bankruptcy court, in a new filing that became available yesterday, because the developer has failed to answer questions from him or his creditors and to produce documents.

Referring to a case taken by the National Asset Management Agency in another US court, Mr Coan said in a new court filing that Mr Dunne is alleged to have transferred tens of millions of dollars worth of assets to Ms Killilea, to "hinder, delay and defraud" his creditors and to avoid his debts.

“Dunne’s creditors have alleged that Dunne orchestrated a series of transfers that span the globe to separate himself of nearly every valuable asset that he once owned,” said Mr Coan.

'Obstructing' the investigation
The developer "stymies and obstructs the investigation into his financial affairs by picking and choosing which questions he will answer", said the trustee in his application to the court.

“More often than not, Dunne refuses to answer any questions about how his financial affairs intersect with Killilea’s.”

Lawyers for Mr Dunne directed that he not answer questions at a meeting on July 10th after Nama filed a legal complaint against him seeking to block his discharge from bankruptcy in the US. The trustee argued in his latest court filing that there were no grounds that allow Mr Dunne to avoid answering questions because a creditor has commenced “an adversary proceeding” against him.