Solicitor and property developer Brian O'Donnell and his psychiatrist wife, Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell appeared before the Commercial Court in Dublin yesterday

A HIGH-flying professional couple have told how they are "at their wits' end" as they are pursued by a bank for €75m.

Solicitor and property developer Brian O'Donnell and his psychiatrist wife, Dr Mary Patricia O'Donnell, appeared before the Commercial Court in Dublin yesterday and emotionally denied they were trying to withhold assets from the bank.

Dr O'Donnell has previously stayed out of the limelight, but she appeared alongside her husband in court yesterday after a judge ordered them to appear to give evidence in the case involving Bank of Ireland (BoI).

In March, the High Court had been told the couple had filed for bankruptcy in the UK -- but yesterday they said that was not the case and they planned to file papers in London on June 14.

Under questioning by senior counsel for the bank, Paul Gardiner, Mr O'Donnell said: "There's an implication we're trying to hold something back from the bank, that's not true."

He said he and his wife had been trying to engage with the bank for four years and had put forward eight different proposals on how to manage the debt, but these were shot down by the bank.

Trying

"We're at our wits' end and that's why we had to file for bankruptcy. We had a very close relationship with this bank since 1976. . . we gave them €100m of Irish assets -- they have (Number 62) Merrion Square, that was valued at €30m, they have it on the market at €6m.

"We know we owe them money. We are trying to pay it," he added.

If the bank had worked with them, this could all have been kept quiet and assets sold for the maximum price possible, he said.

When the bank acted, values fell even further, but there was no "working out" in Ireland, he said. Unlike London and New York, everything was done here in the full glare of publicity.

"That is not the way to do things."

Mr O'Donnell claimed his legal firm, Brian O'Donnell Solicitors, was "evicted" from the Merrion Square property by the bank last year.

The firm's business was "seriously affected" by the ongoing court case with the bank and it was in a slow decline throughout 2011 before finally shutting for good toward the end of the year.

He admitted the value of some of their international property interests was "tumbling" as the bank pursued them through the courts.

BoI brought proceedings last year for summary judgment orders against the couple, with an address at Gorse Hill, Vico Road, Killiney, arising from loans and guarantees on loans obtained for investments and refinancing of other loans.

Under a March 2011 settlement, the couple agreed to make payments totalling €28.5m by November last.

When those were not made, the bank last December secured summary judgment for about €71.5m against the couple and three companies owned or controlled by them.

That sum has risen to more than €75m.

As part of its efforts to enforce judgment, the bank sought statements of assets and yesterday began examining Mr O'Donnell about those in a context where it claims "alarming discrepancies" between a statement of affairs of March 2011 and one in February last.

The court heard that a number of valuable assets had been put in trust for the couple's four children -- including the family home.

The property was valued at €30m at the height of the property boom and is still estimated to be worth as much as €7m in today's market.

Other assets held in trust for the children include several properties in London, such as 8 Barton Street in Westminster and an interest in 15 Westferry Circus in Canary Wharf.

A third property, office building 17 Columbus Courtyard, also in Canary Wharf, is held in trust for their solicitor son, Blake.

Mr O'Donnell said there was no intention of putting these assets beyond the reach of creditors and these trust arrangements were entered into "when everything was absolutely booming".

"This was all to do with legacy planning. My wife has a serious illness and I had a bad accident," he added.

Mr O'Donnell also insisted that he and his wife received no money from the sale of an office block in Washington DC in which they were investors with a number of others.

'Distressed'

The property -- 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue -- had been earning the couple a rental income of $2.2m (€1.7m) a year in 2009, however it was sold in January of this year as a "distressed asset".

Mr O'Donnell said the terms of the sale to a property group were subject to a confidentiality agreement, however he said media reports in America put the sale price at $158m (€120m).

This represented a $14m (€10.6m) loss for the investors who has purchased it for $172m (€131m).

The court also heard how, in 2006, the O'Donnells started using a company, Vico Capital Limited, however this was used as an "umbrella" for other companies and never actually traded.

On hearing details of the company, Mr Justice Peter Kelly asked: "Would you agree with me it's all very shadowy indeed, a company called Vico Capital that doesn't trade, a partnership that comes and goes as legal advice required and an unregistered business name?"

Mr O'Donnell denied he had misled the court on the nature of the company and explained it was used as a "brand name" and was not a trading company.

The case continues today.

Irish Independent