A JUDGE has dismissed as “nonsense” a developer’s denial of receiving loans of almost €36 million from Anglo Irish Bank.
John Morrissey, of Palmerston Road, Rathmines, Dublin, is claiming €140 million in damages from Anglo Irish on grounds including having suffered a brain haemorrhage while under stress dealing with the bank’s claims against him over loans totalling €36 million, the Commercial Court has heard.
Anglo claims the €140 million amounts to Mr Morrissey’s total exposure to bank loans.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday described as “nonsense” a denial by Mr Morrissey of having received the loans from Anglo and warned him he had two weeks to provide a properly pleaded defence to the bank’s claims for repayment.
His comments came after Cian Ferriter SC, for Anglo, complained that Mr Morrissey, in a defence delivered five weeks late, denied he had received the loan monies and also pleaded he did not have to repay monies due to Anglo’s own conduct in the collapsing Irish property market and economy. The bank should have known in 2009 it was insolvent, he claims.
In a counter-claim, Mr Morrissey was also claiming he was entitled to some €140 million from Anglo, Mr Ferriter said. That sum just equated to Mr Morrissey’s total loan exposure in this jurisdiction, Mr Ferriter added.
He argued that Mr Morrissey’s team had wilfully defaulted on court orders in delivering the defence and counter-claim five weeks outside the fixed time limits.
The defence and counter-claim included the “extraordinary” denial that Mr Morrissey received the €36 million in loans from Anglo and pleas, because the Bank was broke when it gave him the money, he did not have to pay it back, Mr Ferriter added.
There was also “a litany” of the “legacy issues” against Anglo aired in the media.
This was “a patent attempt” to have the court engage in a trial of all the historical issues involving Anglo and the court should direct the defendant to file an amended defence to focus on issues that were “statable”.
Counsel for Mr Morrissey accepted there had been delay in filing the defence and also accepted that no application had been brought to seek extra time to do so. He accepted the matter was “handled very badly”.
Mr Justice Kelly said it was “manifest” that points of the defence could not stand up. To deny that Mr Morrissey got the €36 million was “nonsense” as he did get it.
The court was also not engaged in a public inquiry into Anglo, he added. This was a claim by the bank to recover money and not about trawling through the media and picking up bits of information about Anglo.
Mr Morrissey had to obey court orders like everyone else and must file an amended defence and counter-claim within 14 days.
If the issues were not properly set out, there would be consequences for Mr Morrissey, the judge warned. He would tolerate no further delays in the matter.
Mr Morrissey is being sued over loans which Anglo claims were due for repayment in July 2009.
