A MAN has claimed before the High Court that he sustained serious financial losses of some €540,000, plus lost expected profits of up to €300,000, because of the conduct of a company director and three companies related to his investment in property in Spain.

When deciding to invest in Spanish property in 2004, Cyril McMorrow claims he was assured he would get beach-front apartments built to a specific size and with storerooms, but this had not happened.

He claims he had initially planned to invest some €200,000, but having met Karl Morris, decided to increase that to €540,000 for 17 apartments in the confident expectation that he would make a profit of some €260,000 when the apartments were resold.

He claims the conduct of Mr Morris, Milltown, Dublin, and Mill House, Schull, Co Cork, and three companies has meant he was unable to complete his investment as agreed and has subjected him to serious financial loss.

He claims he is entitled to return of his monies and up to €300,00 in estimated loss of profits.

He claims his monies were passed to a Spanish builder without his knowledge and that he learned in May 2006 that the block of 17 apartments had been sold to other parties.

He had the block valued in October 2006 at some €2.84 million, excluding garages and storerooms valued at some €204,000.

Mr McMorrow (48), Carrick Road, Boyle, Co Roscommon, has brought his action against Mr Morris; two Irish companies - Simple Palmera Properties Ltd (SPP) and Simple Overseas Property Ltd (SOP) - and one Spanish company, Simple Property Group SL (SPG).

Mr Morris is a director of all three Simple companies.

The defendants have denied the claims.

They say SPP is involved in the marketing, not the sale, of properties in Spain to Irish investors and plead that SPP made clear at all times to Mr McMorrow that it was acting as an agent for a Spanish company, Prolacon Mar SL of Granada, Spain.

The defence claims Mr McMorrow well knew, or should have known, that none of the defendants were the owners, builders or sellers of the apartments and that all monies received by them were as agents for Palmera Properties SL, which received such monies as agents of Prolacon Mar SL.

Mr McMorrow had initially planned to invest some €100,000 from a €200,000 compensation award paid after an industrial accident.

However, after meeting Mr Morris in Spain in the summer of 2004, he decided to increase his investment.

He was initially unable to raise further funds, but after Mr Morris arranged for a mortgage broker to contact him, he secured loans from Bank of Scotland Ireland for €210,000 and for €168,000 from Permanent TSB secured on his family home and on another house owned by him.

He paid over a total of €540,000 by February 2005.

In March 2005, he saw on the internet the block of apartments for which he had paid the €543,586 deposit.

He was greatly concerned to see they were on average some 15sq metres smaller than the sizes he had agreed with Mr Morris.

In cross-examination yesterday by Dominic Hussey SC, for the defence, Mr McMorrow said he did not know how the Simple companies worked and did not know if they owned the land or properties.

Mr Hussey said they were selling agents for builders and developers.

The case continues today before Ms Justice Mary Laffoy.