Papers filed in Dunne case list address as luxurious home near London

Mini-estate called Braywood just outside Windsor included concierge and staff

Sean Dunne: claimed last year he was unable to pay a near $10,000 (€9,185) penalty in his US case, saying he was effectively broke and earned just €200 a month
Sean Dunne: claimed last year he was unable to pay a near $10,000 (€9,185) penalty in his US case, saying he was effectively broke and earned just €200 a month

Court papers filed last week in Sean Dunne’s US bankruptcy case list his address in May 2019, around the time his US civil trial began, as a luxurious home near London.

Mr Dunne stayed at the property for a few weeks in the spring of 2019 and has not lived there since, sources have told The Irish Times.

The address is a 10-acre mini-estate called Braywood four miles outside Windsor, Berkshire near London. Available to rent on Airbnb, the property is described as a four-bedroom, three-bath house, and "a luxury country estate with concierge and staff", with "a state of the art kitchen", and "stunning interiors and never-ending views".

“Moving inside the house you will find a home packed with character and style from beautiful fireplaces to show-stopping crystal chandeliers,” the home’s website reads. “State-of-the-art features preside with two dishwashers, a boiling water tap, Sonos sound system, Nespresso coffee machine, Induction hob in the centre of the sleek marble island and a dining table so stunning you’ll want to eat sleep and breathe there.”

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The home dates from 1861 and rents for more than £500 (€566) a day, according to its Airbnb listing.

The owners of the property declined to comment on the letting and Mr Dunne’s US attorneys did not return calls requesting comment.

This latest filing comes a month after the High Court ordered Mr Dunne to furnish an address to the official assignee (OA) in charge of his Irish bankruptcy. The OA is seeking the address in connection with Mr Dunne's failure to comply with a court order requiring him to pay €7,000 a month to pay off his creditors.

Mr Dunne has supplied an address to the Irish court, although the details have not been revealed.

Last year, Mr Dunne claimed he was unable to pay a near $10,000 (€9,185) penalty in his US case, saying he was effectively broke and earned just €200 a month. He later paid the money after the judge in the case indicated he would withhold consideration of Mr Dunne’s request for a new trial as long as the penalty remained unpaid.

In Mr Dunne's US civil trial, which began in May 2019, around the time he apparently lived at Braywood and lasted about a month, a jury found he had fraudulently transferred millions in assets to his then-wife Gayle Killilea in a scheme to avoid paying creditors.

Escrow account

In Mr Dunne’s US civil trial last year, which lasted about a month, a jury found he had fraudulently transferred millions in assets to his then-wife Gayle Killilea in a scheme to avoid paying creditors.

The jury ordered Ms Killilea to pay the trustee, whose job is to distribute Mr Dunne’s remaining assets to creditors, €18.1 million.

Earlier this year, Ms. Killilea, who revealed after the trial that she and Mr Dunne are divorced, negotiated a settlement using money from the sale of Walford, Ireland’s most expensive home. As a result, $12.5 million has been transferred into an escrow account controlled by the trustee.

Mr Dunne has gone to court in the US in an attempt to block the settlement, alleging that it improperly taps funds intended for the former couple’s four minor children.

In his most recent filing containing Mr Dunne’s address, the trustee asks the bankruptcy court to officially hand over the funds to the trustee, impose interest costs and allow his law firm to tap the money to pay its fees. A lawyer for the trustee did not return a call seeking comment.

The filing also lists a a current residence for Ms Killilea, a luxury Georgian-style home in the Virginia Water section of Surrey outside London that sold in February 2019 for £4.45 million pounds, according to the website Right Move.

The filing does not say whether Ms Killilea owns or rents the house. Ms Killilea’s US lawyer did not respond to a message requesting comment.