FARMER LOUIS Dowley said he and his brother Robert gave Breifne O’Brien more than €3 million to invest but he had told them last month that “all our years of business dealings were a fraud and a scam and that we had been conned out of our money”.
Louis and Robert Dowley, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, are among several investor claimants seeking court orders requiring Mr O’Brien to return millions of euro.
Louis Dowley said in an affidavit he had paid tax to the Revenue Commissioners on purported profits of €500,000 on the investments, but now believed those profits were “entirely bogus”. He said he knew Mr O’Brien for about 10 years – his wife had attended Trinity College Dublin at the same time as Mr O’Brien and all their dealings were based on trust in Mr O’Brien’s ability and honesty. He had agreed to underwrite linen shipments for Mr O’Brien and also invested in alleged options on property deals in Hamburg and Paris.
Businessman David O’Reilly, Fassaroe House, Fassaroe Avenue, Bray, Co Wicklow, said he knew Mr O’Brien as a college friend and had invested more than €4.2 million with him.
Evan Newell, Brighton Gardens, Rathgar, Dublin, said he had entrusted some €4.2 million to Mr O’Brien for investment purposes.
Other investors are former High Court taxing master David Bell (88), a pensioner of Kilgarth, Silver Birches, Dublin, and his son Peter Bell, a solicitor of the same address, who claim they invested more than €1 million with Mr O’Brien for what they understood to be an investment opportunity related to lands in Co Meath.
Businessman Daniel Maher, Kiltiernan Pines, Westminster Road, Foxrock, claims he invested €450,000 with Mr O’Brien for what he believed was an investment opportunity in a Paris property.
Mr Newell said he had given some advice to Mr O’Brien in the 1990s about his launderette business and gave him not very encouraging financial projections about a diner business, Starvin’ Marvin’s, which went ahead but got into difficulties and closed within a year.
Mr O’Brien was also involved in managing properties and had sold a Cork property for a net gain of some €4 million in this period.
In 2007, Mr Newell said he agreed to transfer funds to a business account of Mr O’Brien’s as he believed Mr O’Brien needed the funds to show he could call on substantial money to perform transactions. Mr Newell said he believed he had no cause for concern about the funds. On December 12th last, Mr O’Brien had phoned him saying he was in severe financial difficulties and later told him he had misappropriated the funds.
Mr Newell said he had considered Mr O’Brien a friend for some 15 years and never had cause to doubt his integrity.
Mr O’Reilly said he had lost money on the Starvin’ Marvin’s venture, but made returns on money invested with Mr O’Brien in relatively small transactions from 1993 to 2008. He had no cause to doubt Mr O’Brien’s honesty and had never sought formal arrangements such as contracts.
Mr O’Reilly said he believed he had made all appropriate returns to the Revenue on all amounts returned from O’Brien.
Mr Maher said he considered Mr O’Brien a friend for some 25 years and believed, from discussions with Mr O’Brien and others, that Mr O’Brien had made a large profit on a property investment in Cork, was an alternate director of Airtricity on the back of his financier brother-in-law’s directorship of it, and had made a “killing” on the sale of Airtricity shares.
He also believed Mr O’Brien had investments in Blackrock Cabs and had opened and closed several ventures over the years, including Starvin’ Marvin’s, launderettes, and shops in UCD and the IFSC. He had also invested in Dubai and German properties and “dabbled” in stocks and shares.
Mr Maher said Mr O’Brien had asked him to lend him some €500,000 so Mr O’Brien could show he had €7 million in place to complete a property deal.
Mr O’Brien had said the money was not at risk, would not leave his bank account and Mr Maher would get a 10 per cent return, he added.
