TD Mick Wallace said on Monday that US fund Cerberus wanted to "settle scores" with him for raising its controversial €1.6 billion Project Eagle deal by bankrupting him.
The High Court yesterday adjourned for a month an application by Cerberus subsidiary Promontoria (Aran) Ltd to bankrupt Mr Wallace.
Promontoria Aran's claim stems from a €2 million judgment that it obtained earlier this year against him for repayment of a loan originally due to Ulster Bank from his company, M&J Wallace, which he had personally guaranteed.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Wallace said that Promontoria Aran would gain nothing from pursuing him.
“They are liquidating the construction company, which is going to cost them €100,000, and they are not going to get anything, because there is nothing there,” he said.
“This is just them settling scores for me highlighting their involvement in Project Eagle.”
Mr Wallace and his lawyers are weighing his options which include a possible defence to the bankruptcy action.
‘Ha’penny Bridge’
“I don’t like the idea of them riding roughshod over me, but even if I end up begging on the Ha’penny Bridge, it won’t stop me,” he said.
Mr Wallace sparked controversy last year when he raised questions over Cerberus’s purchase of a group of Northern Ireland-linked loans, called Project Eagle, from Nama for €1.6 billion.
Claims that prominent politicians and business figures were to benefit from the deal led to a criminal investigation and an ongoing inquiry by the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee. Cerberus has denied any wrongdoing.
The TD confirmed that he only discovered that Cerberus had bought his company’s loan from Ulster Bank, giving the US company the right to seek its repayment, in late August 2015, two months after he first raised questions about Project Eagle in the Dáil.
In court yesterday, Edward Farrelly, for Promontoria, told Ms Justice Caroline Costello that Mr Wallace's counsel was looking for a six-week adjournment of the application. While he was entitled to such an adjournment, his side was seeking that the adjournment should only be for three weeks, counsel said.
Mr Wallace was present in court for the brief hearing and at this stage of the bankruptcy process is entitled to anonymity. He appeared in the court list only under his initials, which is normal for new bankruptcy applicants.
Insolvency practitioner
Keith Farry
, for Mr Wallace, said his client was waiving his anonymity, but he needed six weeks to give him time to engage with an insolvency practitioner. There was a significant amount of work to be done in the six weeks and there was no realism to a three-week period, he said.
When the judge said she would put it in for December 12th, Mr Farry said his client would be in difficulty on that date and just in case there was progress in the matter, he sought the 19th.
Ms Justice Costello said it was not a case that would be heard on a Monday list in any case, given the volume of papers in the case, and it would not therefore be necessary for Mr Wallace to be present on that date.
The judge agreed to put the case in for December 5th, when the court could be informed of any progress.
Until 2014, a TD would automatically lose their seat if declared bankrupt, but that is no longer the case.
Promontoria (Aran) Ltd acquired the €2 million debt from Ulster Bank last year. The loan is backed by personal guarantees, leaving the TD liable if the business could not pay the debt.
