Bankrupt Irish property developer Sean Dunne has filed an objection to payment of $2.8 million (€2.4 million) to his ex-wives in his US bankruptcy case.
US bankruptcy Judge Julie A Manning said at a hearing on Tuesday that she would distribute $1.9 million to Mr Dunne’s first wife Jennifer Coyle and $925,306 his second wife Gayle Killilea pending the filing of updated paperwork by the bankruptcy trustee’s attorney.
Judge Manning said she would release the money because Dunne had no chance of getting the claims dismissed.
Mr Dunne, representing himself, was to have attended the hearing via video hook up, but withdrew at the last moment, emailing the court to state that he was losing internet access.
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In his filing, Mr Dunne said his ex-wives have no immediate need for the money and asked the judge to delay disbursements until a February 18th hearing on one of his pending cases in Ireland.
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“Both my former wives are very wealthy due to marriages to me and the fruits of my labour, whereas I am an undischarged bankrupt with no income or assets,” Mr Dunne wrote in a filing the court received on Thursday morning.
“It is not as if either Ms Coyle or Ms Killilea have a pressing need for money to add to their existing substantial worth.”
In the filing, Mr Dunne put Ms Coyle’s fortune at about €10 million and said that he has depended on Ms Killilea “for financial support and since my bankruptcy in March 2013”.
The trustee asked the judge to make the distributions before the new year to save the $16 million-plus estate on taxes. Mr Dunne challenged that rationale, saying that the trustee had presented no documents to back it up.
Mr Dunne left Ireland for America after his property empire collapsed in a mountain of debt following the 2008 financial crash.
He filed bankruptcy there and has been trying without success to overturn a 2019 US jury verdict finding that he had transferred €19.1 million to his then-wife, Ms Killilea, to keep it from creditors.
Judge Manning indicated on Monday that she expected at the end of this week to distribute more of the $16 million-plus left in the bankruptcy estate to other creditors. These includes Nama and Ulster Bank.
