Employee told Law Society about Byrne

The Law Society began its investigation into the legal practice of Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne last October following a tip-off from a member of his staff, The Irish Timeshas learned. Simon Carswell, Finance Correspondent, reports.

Barbara Cooney, a solicitor in Mr Byrne's legal practice, Thomas Byrne & Co, since November 2005, contacted the Law Society on October 18th last year over her concerns about two letters of undertaking on property loans provided to Mr Byrne by EBS Building Society and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

She claimed that purported signatures of hers appearing on each letter were "not her signature", according to the minutes of a Law Society meeting she attended.

Ms Cooney, who dealt with property conveyancing in Mr Byrne's Walkinstown practice, became concerned when she was contacted by Irish Nationwide.

According to the minutes, Ms Cooney told the society that when she raised the matter with Mr Byrne, he indicated that he had "put her signature on the letter of undertaking as a matter of expediency and meant to explain to her the next morning".

Ms Cooney told the society that she and Mr Byrne contacted the EBS, withdrew the undertaking and submitted another. Ms Cooney told staff in the practice what had happened and that she would be reporting the matter to the society. She later resigned from the practice.

Ms Cooney called to the society on October 18th to elaborate on her concerns about Mr Byrne's dealings. She also raised a matter about a file in the practice relating to the estate of a deceased person that it handled.

The following day, a Law Society accountant examined his practice. Mr Byrne was not present and the accountant was unable to reach him. He called Mr Byrne's mobile but the voicemail box was full and could not take any messages. The accountant tried to obtain a ledger card relating to land at Clonee, Co Meath, but was told by a member of staff that Mr Byrne had taken that file and other files the previous evening.

Solicitors acting for IIB Bank contacted the Law Society around this time over its concerns about Mr Byrne's dealings.

On Monday, October 22nd, IIB Bank secured a High Court order restraining Mr Byrne from reducing his assets below €9 million and freezing his bank accounts. Mr Byrne, whose practice has been closed down, is being investigated by the Law Society and the Garda. He owes at least €47 million to financial institutions.

Ms Cooney could not be reached for comment yesterday, despite calls to her solicitor.

The Law Society began investigating Michael Lynn, another solicitor whose practice it is examining, after it was alerted by a member of his staff.