A senior judge presiding in an ongoing trial linked to the sale of Nama’s Northern Ireland loan book told the jury on Monday that the case against one of two accused cannot continue at this stage.
Addressing the jury at Belfast Crown Court, Madam Justice McBride told them she was discharging them from reaching verdicts regarding Ian Coulter.
From Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, Ian George Coulter (54), a former managing partner of Tughans solicitors, had been charged with five offences over a timeframe of April 3rd to December 1st, 2014.
His senior barrister is unwell and “is not able to return for the foreseeable future”.
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Ruling that because Mr Coulter could not get a fair trial due to the absence of his senior barrister, it emerged that it is the intention of the PPS (the public prosecutor) that he will face trial on all five charges in due course.
As a result, Mr Coulter was granted permission to leave the dock on continuing bail.
The trial against co-accused, 83-year old Frank Cushnahan, a former corporate financier from Alexandra Gate in Holywood, proceeded on one of the two charges he faces - namely fraud by failing to disclose information between April 1st and November 7th 2013, which he denies.
Now in its 10th week, the trial is centered on the sale of a loan book held by Nama, which was set up by the Irish Government to deal with toxic property loans after the Republic banking crisis in late 2008.
Some the debts that Nama took over were owed by both individuals and in respect of properties in Northern Ireland.
As a result of this the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee (NIAC) was established under the Nama Act 2009. Mr Cushnahan was appointed as an external member of NIAC in May 2010 and resigned in November 2013.
It is alleged that between April and November 2013, Mr Cushnahan failed to disclose to both NIAC and Nama information that he had a legal duty to disclose - namely that he was providing assistance to US investment fund Pimco about the proposed purchase of Nama’s Northern Ireland loan book.
The nine men and three woman of the jury have heard that the deal with Pimco fell through in March 2014 when Nama found out about Mr Cushnahan’s alleged involvement.
Richard Bullick, who at the relevant time was a special advisor to the North’s then first minister Peter Robinson, was questioned first on Monday by prosecuting barrister Jonathan Kinnear, KC.
Confirming he was involved in meetings with Mr Robinson and others regarding the deal, Mr Bullick said one of those was a meeting with representatives from Pimco on May 22nd 2013.
Also present at that meeting was Mr Cushnahan.
Mr Bullick confirmed that he became “more involved” in the loan book deal around September 2013 “in relation to the work Mr Robinson was doing with Mr Cushnahan”.
Mr Bullick’s recollection was that “the case was made by Frank...that it would be desirable to see a situation come about where a third party became involved and was in a position to buy up the assets and in doing so, it would be done in a way which was helpful to the Northern Ireland economy.”
Mr Bullick said he also recalled a meeting between Mr Robinson and then Irish finance minister Michael Noonan around late September 2013.
When asked about whether there was a discussion about whether Pimco would be the only bidder, Mr Bullick replied: “Peter’s very clear view was that as long as anybody was prepared to abide by the conditions that Pimco had indicated they were prepared to abide by, Peter was entirely neutral on who purchased the loan book.”
Mr Bullick said he believed Mr Noonan’s main concerns were the “implications for southern Ireland” and Irish taxpayers.
Mr Bullick also confirmed that he met with Mr Cushnahan “on a number of occasions” over the remainder of 2013 in a bid to see “how the process was moving forward”.
Mr Kinnear asked Mr Bullick if he received a call from Ian Coulter on or around the 12th of March, 2014 when he was in New York with Peter Robinson for St Patrick’s Day.
Mr Kinnear asked if, following that call, he knew the deal with Pimco was not going to go ahead, to which the witness replied “that’s correct”.
Mr Bullick was cross-examined by Mr Cushnahan’s barrister Frank O’Donoghue KC.
The defence barrister asked Mr Bullick about “political concerns” around the deal in the spring of 2013. Mr Bullick spoke of concerns about Stormont having no statutory power.
