MISSING SOLICITOR Michael Lynn was planning to buy properties in Croatia, Brazil, Canada and the Dominican Republic early last year, according to the records of his property business, Kendar Holdings.
Mr Lynn, who failed to appear for cross-examination in the High Court last December, was in the process of buying two properties in a resort in Canada, six properties in Croatia, a seaside house and four plots of land in Brazil and a bungalow in the resort of Punta Perla in the Dominican Republic.
It is not clear if Mr Lynn completed the purchase of these properties. He did not list them in the affidavit he filed in the High Court last November in the case being taken against him by the Law Society. In that affidavit he listed 148 properties in nine countries, including Portugal, Hungary, China and the US. Mr Lynn's Dublin law practice closed in October amid concerns about his property dealings and borrowings. An investigation by the Law Society found he had used his practice's client account for personal dealings and there had been a flow of money between his practice and property business.
Company records for Kendar Holdings, seen by The Irish Times, reveal the scale of Mr Lynn's property interests and his ambitious plans to develop his businesses. According to a Kendar document named "unknown items" in a file called "tax audit", properties in the Black Mountain Lodge resort in Alberta, Canada, were worth €524,000, the six properties in Croatia more than €2 million, the Dominican Republic house €856,000 and the Brazilian properties €686,000.
This document also lists properties that Mr Lynn included in his affidavit. Kendar paid a cheque for €15,074 to "VIP Brazil Inc" on December 16th, 2006, according to the company's cheques journal.
Kendar planned to set up "a property speculation arm" in Brazil, according to a draft business plan for the company written in late 2006, as the company already had a development business in Portugal and Brazil was a Portuguese-speaking country.
The plan said Kendar's bank relationships needed "to be worked on" and that one of the company's strengths was that it had "a visionary owner" in Mr Lynn who was "prepared to take bold decisions".
In a proposal seeking finance of €28 million for the second phase of Kendar Portugal's residential development in the Algarve, the company said Mr Lynn would "like to live in Portugal permanently".
The most recent sighting of Mr Lynn since he failed to appear in court was in Portugal last month. His whereabouts are unknown and there is a warrant out for his arrest in Ireland but not internationally.
