Banks believed former solicitor working for French fashion houses

Trial told bank thought Byrne had €4m salary

A bank believed former solicitor Thomas Byrne had a €4 million annual income as a consultant for French fashion houses while assessing him as a commercial loan candidate.

The claims were made when Mr Byrne was applying for a €9 million loan from Irish Intercontinental Bank (IIB), now known as KBC.

He told them he wanted the money to invest in a deal with property developer John Kelly.

Properties

The loans were secured against 16 residential, three commercial and one development properties.

The trial has previously heard that many of these holdings were already in use as collateral against other loans with different banks.

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Mr Byrne (47) of Walkinstown Road, Crumlin, Dublin, is accused of theft and fraud offences totalling €51.8 million.

The charges allege he transferred clients’ homes into his name and then used them as collateral for property loans.

Mr Byrne has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 51 counts of theft, forgery, using forged documents and deception between 2004 and 2007.

Former head of collections with KBC, Barry Keely confirmed that IIB had believed the accused ran a consultancy business for Prada, Chloe and Cavali.

The bank stated this provided an annual income of €4 million a year.

The trial continues.