An action by Mr Larry Goodman to recover £22.83 million sterling (#35.54 million) from a Cypriot businessman continues next week.

The action in the Cyprus high court by Goodman International against Mr Andreas Kittalides surrounds a loan Mr Goodman's company made to a Co Tipperary farmer, Mr Joe Kenny, in March 1990.

The money ended up in the Cyprus account after complicated transactions in the Republic, Luxembourg and Guernsey.

In 1996 the High Court in Dublin ruled that Mr Kenny should repay that sum to Mr Goodman, but the money was frozen in a Cyprus bank account controlled by Mr Kittalides.

The money, borrowed from Barclays Bank, was lent without security to Mr Kenny and the High Court found he facilitated the transfer of at least part of it to Mr Kittalides.

Goodman International lent the money in the belief that it would be repaid in three months, with a profit to it of £2.4 million.

In theory, the security for the loan was the title deed for £25 million property portfolio held by Mercantile Credit bank on Mr Kenny's behalf. There was no such security.

The money went from Mr Kenny to an account in Guernsey held by Mr Kittalides and from there to a London firm called City Project Financier, which was linked to Mr Kenny.

From there, most of the money was transferred via Luxembourg to Cyprus.

In 1990, Mr Goodman said he never met or spoke to Mr Kenny, nor to the broker who introduced him to the Goodman group, Mr Des Lamont.

Mr Goodman failed to recover damages from Mr Lamont in the High Court in 1995. That case found Mr Lamont acted in good faith, supporting his company's claim that its executives "were aware of the ultimate objective of the transaction".

A Goodman International spokesman yesterday said: "The case is ongoing for 10 years. It comes to court on a regular basis. Progress is slow." He had no further comment to make because the matter was sub judice.