About €600,000 held in a bank account of a Dubai company is to be transferred to the provisional liquidator of a related Irish forestry investment firm which is subject of a Garda investigation, the High Court has heard.
Declan De Lacy, provisional liquidator of Irish-registered Arden Forestry Management, last Friday secured freezing orders over some €600,000 held in the Noor Bank in Dubai in an account belonging to a UAE registered firm, GTD International Ltd.
Mr De Lacy, represented by Brian Conroy, says the funds in the account belong to Arden, which is involved in investment in Irish forestry and he sought the orders over fears the money may be dissipated.
The court was previously told Arden had “the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme”. It had raised €4 million from 132 UK investors, was to use the funds to buy forestry in Ireland and only €200,000 of that money had been spent on forestry, it was claimed.
An estimated €1.5 million of the investors’ funds had been transferred to an account of GTF, which is linked to Arden, it was claimed.
Concerns
The court was also told some money in the account had already been moved and, while €100,000 from the GTD account had been returned to Arden, there were concerns about the remainder, some €600,000, being dissipated.
The freezing order was granted by Mr Justice Tony O’Connor last Friday and proceedings were also brought before the UAE courts on Saturday in relation to the account.
When the matter returned before Mr Justice O’Connor on Wednesday, Garret Byrne, representing Garret Hevey, a director of GTD and of Arden, said his client was satisfied the various orders be continued.
Mr Hevey will transfer the money in the Dubai bank to Arden and was at all times prepared to co-operate with the provisional liquidator, but Mr De Lacy had been moving with too much haste, counsel said. Mr Hevey had always intended to transfer the money in the GTD account to Arden, he added.
Mr Hevey also contests certain claims being made against him by the provisional liquidator and wanted two weeks to allow him reply to the claims.
In reply, Mr Conroy said his client did not accept he had moved too quickly since his appointment.
Adjourned
Mr Justice O’Connor adjourned the case for two weeks and extended the freezing orders.
Last month, the court appointed Mr De Lacy of PKF O’Connor, Leddy & Holmes provisional liquidator of Arden on the application of the directors after hearing it was insolvent and unable to pay its debts.
The move came after the court heard, following the Garda investigation, there was a blocking order on its main bank account with AIB in Ireland which meant it was unable to operate.
In a sworn statement, Mr Hevey said he and his fellow directors deny any wrongdoing but, as the AIB account had been frozen, the company had been put into “an impossible position”.
As land purchases were taking longer than expected, Arden took a decision to invest some funds, under advice from a Gibraltar-based company, in Spanish property and Arden’s directors set up GTD International to buy properties in Spain, he said.
