Dunne told US hearing his companies sold some 4,000 properties in Ireland

Nama is trying to clarify financial details of transfers to wife Gayle Killilea

Developer Seán Dunne
Developer Seán Dunne

Bankrupt property developer Seán Dunne told creditors at a hearing in Connecticut last month that over his career he and his companies sold about 4,000 properties in Ireland.

The National Asset Management Agency is scrutinising only a specific number of properties that were transferred to his wife, Gayle Killilea, under two agreements dated 2005 and 2008 to gift her €100 million.

Ms Killilea sued her husband in a Swiss court in 2010 where they lived at the time to force him to honour the agreements. She secured a judgment of $44 million (€32 million) against him in court.

Mr Dunne said his finances and those of his group were “all considered one – one pot”. Nama is trying to clarify the financial details of the transfers to his wife and in last month’s hearing focused mostly on six assets that were listed on the agreement with his wife and on Walford, Ireland’s most expensive house.

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Irish Glass Bottle lands
Clonskeagh, Dubli

Worth about €3 million when he transferred his 50 per cent share in this property to his wife in December 2008, Dunne said that the other 50 per cent was owned by developer Seán Mulryan.

Woodtown
Rathfarnham, Dublin
Dunne acquired 160 acres of land for under €10 million and secured planning for 400 units on 30 acres, selling this plot and netting a profit of about €70 million.

Asked where this money went, Dunne told Nama's lawyer that some of it went to his wife, some was used to buy another property or repay debt, and he might have bought a holiday or a new car with the rest.

Lagoon Beach Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa
Dunne said that he transferred his interest in the 202-room hotel he developed to his wife in 2008.

Charlesland
Co Wicklow
Dunne said he developed 1,400 residential units on these lands with a value of about €200 million at peak. He sold one tranche of land for €70 million and another was sold to his joint venture partner, Seán Mulryan's firm Ballymore. He couldn't recall the total profit made on Charlesland.

Rivertree
1 & 3 Shrewsbury Road,
Dublin 4
Dunne said he bought the properties in trust through the company Rivertree for €11 million and sold them for €26 million in 2006 to developer Derek Quinlan. He transferred the €15 million profit to his wife.

Walford
Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4
Dunne said he bought Walford, a house on Shrewsbury Road, in trust for his wife for €58 million in 2006.

He said that he signed documents for attorneys facilitating the sale of this property in March 2013 but that he didn’t own the property or know who was behind a Cypriot company that purchased the house.

"It could be my wife, it could be my children, it could be anyone," he said.

Malahide RFC lands
Co Dublin
Dunne said that he made a profit of close to €30 million when he sold these lands to another property developer for €45 million.

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell

Simon Carswell is News Editor of The Irish Times