US court to determine if Seán Dunne’s wife is his ‘puppet’

A US court should have information about the finances of Gayle Killilea Dunne, wife of bankrupt developer Seán Dunne, to decide whether she is a "puppet" and he is the "puppet master" in their relationship, a judge has said.

Judge Alan Shiff will examine records in Mr Dunne's US bankruptcy to decide whether they are relevant to the case after lawyers for Ms Killilea Dunne argued that documents sought by the official overseeing his bankruptcy were not relevant to his investigation and breached her privacy.

The judge said at a hearing in Connecticut that there was at least a suspicion that some of the assets at the centre of the bankruptcy trustee’s investigation were Mr Dunne’s and that he was setting up US companies that the couple have said were owned by Ms Killilea Dunne.

It was up to the court to decide whether she was a nominal person and he was in fact the one who was “controlling the levers”, he said.

Ms Killilea Dunne’s lawyer, Peter Nolin, told the judge that architects, tax advisers and lawyers used by his client had been drawn into the trustee’s investigation and that she was missing out on business due to his demands for information.

Plans to sell house

He also said that plans to sell the house she shares with Mr Dunne on Stillman Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut, were being affected by the case as the property agent was refusing to handle the sale in case it received another subpoena for information in the bankruptcy case.

Judge Shiff said that he would examine the paperwork sought by the trustee to determine whether the personal documents relating to Ms Killilea Dunne fell outside the scope of the bankruptcy investigation.

The court granted a request from her lawyers to receive a copy of future subpoenas issued by trustee, Connecticut lawyer Rich Coan, to third parties after details of her and her children’s personal belongings were examined in information obtained from a removals company.

€100m gift for love

The judge noted that even though he had heard from Ms Killilea Dunne’s lawyers this should not indicate that she has any standing in the case. He didn’t know what the relationship was between Ms Killilea Dunne and Mr Dunne, nor did he need to know at this stage, he said.

The trustee was granted access to details of Irish and Swiss family law cases involving Mr Dunne on the condition that he kept the information strictly confidential.

Mr Coan is seeking the details to determine how Ms Killilea Dunne is owed $44 million (€32 million) by Mr Dunne.

The developer has said the $44 million debt arises from a 2010 Swiss family law action in which he was sued by his wife for failing to honour an agreement gifting her €100 million in return for “love and affection.”

Confidentiality

Mr Dunne has refused to answer questions about the proceedings as they were covered by the in-camera rule protecting family law cases.

The judge said that it was necessary and appropriate to respect the confidentiality around the Irish family law proceedings.

The Co Carlow developer filed for bankruptcy in the US, where he now lives, in March 2013 with debts of $942 million. He was declared bankrupt in Ireland four months later on a petition from Ulster Bank.