Anglo secures €26m summary judgment

Anglo Irish Bank today secured judgment orders for some €26 million over unpaid loans to Smart Telecom purchaser Brendan Murtagh whose total liabilities are estimated at some €353 million.

A solicitor for Mr Murtagh had urged Mr Justice Peter Kelly at the Commercial Court to refrain from entering judgment until next December. A further €6 million would be due then from Mr Murtagh as a result of Capital Gains Tax and, if the bank waited, it would avoid two separate sets of proceedings being brought thus saving time and costs, he said.

While it was unusual for a defendant to be arguing they owed more than was being claimed, the judge said Anglo was entitled to summary judgment now in the €26 million sum as Mr Murtagh had not advanced any defence to that claim.

He added additioanl costs of some €200 would be all that was incurred if Mr Murtagh, descibed as of ?very limited means?, did not enter an appearance in relation to the CGT claim as, in those circumstances, Anglo could then secure judgment in that sum from the High Court central office.

In seeking judgment for the €26 million sun, counsel for Anglo had said the bank?s concern was to protect its position.

Anglo had brought the case for repayment of €23.4 million and some Stg #2.1 million personal loans made to Mr Murtagh between 1999 and 2009 for commercial dealings in shares and properties.

The Bank said it had given Mr Murtagh time to restructure his interests in the hope he might be able to deal fully with the liability but no repayments were made since March last when the bank learned of other proceedings by private investors against Mr Murtagh. It became apparent the prospect of his being able to deal with Anglo?s loans had receded in the context of his other financial difficulties, it said.

Mr Justice Kelly noted he had, in the recent separate proceedings where investors are pursuing Mr Murtagh, Dunheeda, Kingscourt, Cavan, for €28 million, made orders for the sale of shares held by Mr Murtagh in Kingspan plc and other companies to part satisfy the investors? claim.

Those proceedings were brought by Loparco SA, a Luxemburg reistered company through which investors provided some €20 million for Polish property deals, to be managed by the Howard Holdings property group. Loparco secured judgment last January for €28.1 million against Mr Murtagh, Greg Coughlan, Fastnet, Ardbrack, Kinsale, and Brian Madden, Well Road, Douglas, Cork.

Last April, Mr Justice Kelly rejected Mr Murtagh?s application to retain shares and a pension fund valued at up to €1.2 million towards ?living expenses?. He noted Mr Murtagh (64) once had an estimated net worth of €271 million but now has liabilities of €353 million, including ?colossal? sums owed to Anglo.

He found it hard to see how Mr Murtagh would need to keep assets valued between €700,000 and €1.2 million for ?reasonable? living expenses in the way that term is understood by ordinary people, the judge said.