A former senior figure of a US investment fund on Tuesday expressed his surprise that a lawyer may have lied to him about a deal concerning the Northern Ireland loan book.
Two men are currently on trial on charges arising from the sale of the Northern Ireland property loan book held by the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).
Ian Coulter (54), a former managing partner of Tughans solicitors who is from Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, has been charged with five offences over a timeframe of April 3rd to December 1st, 2014.
His 83-year-old co-accused, former corporate financier Frank Hugh Cushnahan, from Alexandra Gate in Holywood, has had two counts of fraud spanning over a period from April 1st to November 7th, 2013 levelled against him.
RM Block
Both men have denied the charges.
As he spent his second day in the witness box at Belfast Crown Court, James Gilbert, a former vice president of investment fund Pimco, was cross-examined by the defence.
The jury has already heard that Tuvi Keinan from the London-based US law firm Brown Rudnick was responsible for informing Mr Gilbert about a possible deal with Nama and that Mr Gilbert met Mr Coulter and Mr Cushnahan in London in April 2013 to discuss the deal.
The following month, a delegation of six people including Mr Gilbert, Mr Keinan and the two defendants had a meeting in Stormont with senior politicians including the then first minister Peter Robinson.
Under cross-examination from Mr Coulter’s barrister Greg Berry KC, Mr Gilbert confirmed Mr Keinan was his main contact throughout process.
He also confirmed that the first mention of a success fee - which was to be split three ways between the Brown Rudnick law firm, Tughans law firm and Frank Cushnahan - was raised with him by Mr Keinan in the car park of Stormont after the meeting and that Mr Coulter and Mr Cushnahan were not present at that point.
Mr Berry then asked Mr Gilbert if he was aware in May 2013 that a second investment company, Baupost, was also interested in the deal.
Mr Gilbert said he was aware of this, and when asked if Mr Keinan told him that Baupost had agreed the €16 million success fee and that if Pimco didn’t agree to that success fee then the deal could go to Baupost, the witness replied “correct.”
Mr Berry suggested this was a “warning shot” from Mr Keinan who was effectively telling him that Pimco “better agree” to it otherwise the deal was going to go to Baupost.
When asked by Mr Berry “you obviously believed that?”, Mr Gilbert replied “well, if you can’t trust a lawyer, who can you trust.”
The barrister then told Mr Gilbert “the jury will hear in due course from Baupost and no such fee was agreed”, adding that Mr Keinan “wasn’t mistaken” but had lied.
Mr Gilbert said “you will have to ask Mr Keinan”.
Mr Berry then suggested to Mr Gilbert that if Baupost had not agreed a €16 million success fee, then the lawyer had “lied to you, he’s played you to get the fee.”
Asked to reflect on this, Mr Gilbert said: “If its accurate that Baupost never agreed to pay that fee, then we were misled.”
Mr Berry then said “on the subject of lies, did Tuvi tell you Nama were not yet aware of the success fee but they would be pleased that Frank and Ian were going to be involved in the deal?”, to which he replied “absolutely.”
The barrister then suggested that this was another lie told by Mr Keinan, as was his “bare-faced lie” that the Northern Ireland Executive was “already aware” of Mr Coulter and Mr Cushnahan’s roles as brokers in the deal and that they would be “remunerated.”
Mr Gilbert reiterated that he relied on Mr Keinan throughout the process and that at the relevant time he “absolutely” trusted him.
Telling Mr Gilbert that he had provided “examples where he has misled you”, Mr Gilbert was asked how he felt now and he replied that “if those were lies, then they were very bold”.
Mr Berry then questioned Mr Gilbert about the success fee and the witness agreed that, unlike Mr Keirnan, Mr Coulter and Mr Cushanhan did not continually raise the issue or pursue it with him.
He was then questioned about an email exchange he had with Mr Keinan in which he called Mr Coulter a “greedy fker” after being told by Mr Keinan that Coulter had complained that the success fee was in euros rather than sterling.
Mr Gilbert agreed there was no evidence that Mr Coulter had any input into the email sent to him by Mr Keinan, which prompted Mr Berry to suggest that Mr Keinan was “at his usual games, mixing it up, pressing about the fee and playing you again, Mr Gilbert.”
When asked if he was “a little too trusting of him, given what you know now”, Mr Gilbert said that “hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
He continued: “At the time we were being advised by a senior partner in a very well reputed US law firm so I would say it was reasonable to trust this individual” and added that “it is a big surprise if it appears that he wasn’t being truthful with us.”
Mr Berry then turned to March 13th, 2014 when Pimco confirmed it was pulling out of the deal.
Mr Gilbert confirmed it was disappointing with Mr Berry saying “Pimco the bride was effectively left at the altar.”
The barrister then spoke of the immediate involvement of another investment fund, Cerberus, and said: “Mr Keinan, the groom, arranged a marriage the next day, did you know that?”
Mr Gilbert said Pimco “learned later that Cerberus has completed the transaction” and was then told by Mr Berry that 24 hours after Pimco pulled out, Cerberus “are in and they agreed to pay €16 million as the success fee.”
When he was asked “are you surprised at the speed in which a new bride was found and a success fee agreed”, Mr Gilbert said “yes that’s surprising to me that it was so quick.”
