PROPERTY DEVELOPER Ray Grehan, who is being pursued by the National Asset Management Agency for hundreds of millions of euro in court actions in four countries, has been declared bankrupt in London.
The order, issued by the High Court in London on December 30th, means the developer will be able to clear bankruptcy in a year as he has been given a discharge date of December 30th.
“I wanted to make a fresh start and this is the only chance I have of wiping the slate clean and starting a new business. Unfortunately, we have to go abroad to do that, but so be it,” Mr Grehan told The Irish Times last night.
According to court records, Mr Grehan gave an address at Bateman’s Row in Shoreditch in East London, having “lately” resided at Crinstown, Maynooth, Co Kildare.
It is understood Mr Grehan has lived in London since last May.
Mr Grehan came to national prominence in Ireland after his company, Glenkerrin, paid €171 million, or almost €84 million per acre, for the 2.02-acre former UCD veterinary college site in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 in November 2005 at the height of the property boom in Ireland. Today, it is valued at €20 million.
He is the latest property developer to move to the UK to benefit from its laxer bankruptcy law, where people in trouble with their finances can hope to be discharged in between one to three years.
In November, John Fleming was discharged as a bankrupt by Southend County Court in Essex, although Nama has mounted a legal move to seize his pension, which is to be heard in coming months.
Nama won a worldwide freezing order against Mr Grehan last month preventing him from selling any of his assets, although it failed in an attempt to stop him being paid €5,000 a week by his company. Nama had wanted the figure set at €1,250 per week.
In a statement of affairs, compiled in July 2010, Mr Grehan claimed he had a net worth of £3.6 million in 2010, once debts were stripped away from 16 properties listed in court documents, including a quarter stake in a Dutch casino.
Nama’s decision to go to court in London to secure the worldwide freezing order followed earlier legal actions by it to stop Mr Grehan offloading properties in the United States and Canada, including one that had not been declared by Mr Grehan to Nama.
Under 2002 UK legislation, bankrupts are usually discharged after a year, although an attachment order on future earnings can be imposed in some circumstances for up to three years. A bankruptcy restriction order can be ordered for up to 15 years, if the official receiver believes a dishonest application has been made.
In September, Mr Grehan said he had no incentive to stay in Ireland, or repay his debts, claiming that Nama would continue to pursue him for the full €650 million that he owes even though it has, he said, removed his ability to pay them back.
In November, the Commercial Court in Dublin issued summary judgments in favour of Nama against Mr Grehan and his brother Danny for more than €300 million each.
The orders were the biggest obtained by Nama to date against individuals and also represent the largest judgments entered to date at the Commercial Court against individuals under personal guarantees.
The brothers had argued that Allied Irish Banks had made the loans to them on a short-term basis knowing that they could not be repaid quickly.
