The Wexford accountant Alan Hynes has said he is involved in an effort to buy loans totalling €12.7 million from US investor group Lone Star which bought the loans from Ulster Bank at an unknown discount.
Mr Hynes said the collateral on the loans includes a €3.6 million personal guarantee he signed with Ulster Bank and guarantees from former investors in the failed Tuskar Asset Management (Tam) group for €2 million.
Two weeks ago a disciplinary tribunal of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board made multiply findings of professional misconduct against Mr Hynes arising from complaints from former investors in the Tam property vehicle, and other property deals associated with Mr Hynes.
Conflict of interest
The investors lost millions of euro in the ventures and the tribunal, among other findings, said “self interest” on Mr Hynes’ part caused him to inadequately deal with conflict of interest situations where he was personally involved in deals where the investors perceived him to be acting as their advisor.
The tribunal decided to apply the maximum sanction of exclusion from the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr Hynes said he intends to appeal the tribunal’s findings. If he does so the sanction will be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal, which could take some years.
Mr Hynes said the complaints to the tribunal and its findings had caused Hudson Advisors, a loan servicing business dealing with the Lone Star loans, to shy away from dealing with him. He said Tuskar Property Holdings Ltd, a company formerly owned by Mr Hynes and his wife, Noreen Hynes, wants to buy the loans. He said Tuskar Property Holdings, which was not part of the Tam group, is now owned by Adrian O'Reilly, his brother-in-law, who is resident in the UK.
Tenant
The Ulster Bank loans were taken out by Tuskar Commercial Investment Properties Ltd, which was involved during the boom in the purchase, demolition, rebuilding and leasing of the Bank of Ireland building in Wexford. The bank remains as a tenant in the building and the building is part of the collateral that exists against the loans.
Mr Hynes said Tuskar Property Holdings wants to buy the loans so it can vacate the guarantees.
During the tribunal hearings counsel for Mr Hynes said the accountant and his wife were in an “impecunious” position and their main source of income was a stipend from the Chartered Accountants Ireland benevolence fund. The stipend goes to Mrs Hynes, who is not a member of the institute.
