Anglo entitled to recover €28m

Anglo Irish Bank has secured court orders entitling it to recover some €28 million against a Dublin businessman over unpaid property loans and guarantees

William Smyth, otherwise known as Liam Smyth, Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, consented to the orders at the Commercial Court today but his counsel Ciaran Lewis secured a stay on the orders until Friday next to allow Mr Smyth an opportunity to secure refinancing. Mr Justice Peter Kelly will review the stay issue on Friday.

The case relates to loan facilities of some €17 million in 2007 and 2009 made available by Anglo to Mr Smyth to renew existing facilities and to fund investment in a property fund. Under a guarantee of March 2007, Mr Smyth also guaranteed the obligations of Sanguinis Ltd and the bank claimed some €10.8 million was due under that guarantee.

A condition of the facilities was that Mr Smyth executed first legal charges in favour of the bank over properties at Dalkey, Co Dublin; Clonee, Co Meath and an apartment at Hogan Square, Dublin 2. The bank said personal guarantees were also entered into by a number of specified individuals.

The 2007 loan agreement was also secured by an assignment over Mr Smyth's investment in the "select geared property fund", the bank said.

The bank said there had been default under the agreements and it had had numerous discussions from March 2010 with Mr Smyth and his advisers in relation to the reduction of the loan facilities.

In response to the bank's request for an overall strategy review, Mr Smyth had provided details of a New York development project which he was engaged in and which involved a four star hotel and residential apartments, the bank said.

Mr Smyth also sought to put in place a new bank account in which rents from the secured properties would be paid directly to Anglo, it was stated.

Anglo said it had advised Mr Smyth in June last year it was considering appointing a receiver over the secured properties and on June 28th, Mr Smyth had provided Anglo with a €50,000 cheque which was applied to reduce his debt. Difficulties were experienced in getting tenants to remit rental funds directly to the bank, it said.

Further communications and meetings resulted in no adequate repayment proposals, the bank said. The terms of the 2007 and 2009 loan agreements had expired and, in January last, it had exercised its entitlement to demand immediate repayment of €17.3 million arising from those and had also demanded repayment of €10.8 million under the guarantee.