Sean Dunne files objection with US court to stop $3.8m being paid to his former wives, and lawyers
Bankrupt Irish property developer Sean Dunne has filed a fresh objection to the distribution of $3.8 million (€3.24 million) of the remaining assets in his dozen-year-old US bankruptcy case. US Bankruptcy Judge Julie A Manning, sitting in Bridgeport, Connecticut last week ordered payment of $2.8 million to his two ex-wives and about another $1 million in legal fees to the US bankruptcy trustee and his lawyers. The payouts leave about $12 million in the estate, which the US trustee is seeking to distribute to Dunne’s other creditors, including two banks and State agency Nama. In a 79-page document accompanied by another 74-pages of exhibits that he prepared and filed himself, Mr Dunne cited what he said was the court’s failure to properly notify him of a December 16th hearing; “flawed and inadequate paperwork”; and a February 18th legal hearing in the Irish courts as reasons to delay distribution.READ MOREBelfast’s Field of Dreams by the LaganHow the Government backed itself into a corner on income taxMost-read: The top 10 business and personal finance stories of the yearTest your tech knowledge with our Christmas quiz“Given the proximity of that hearing, the prudent and equitable course is to defer any payment authorization until after the Honorable Court hears the matter fully and on a full record,” Mr Dunne wrote. [ US judge orders $3.8m be paid to Sean Dunne’s ex-wives and lawyers involved in his caseOpens in new window ]Mr Dunne also threatened in the filing to take his two ex-wives to court in Ireland if they accepted any of the distributions directed by the US court. The court awarded $1.8 million to his first ex-wife Jennifer Coyle and $925,306 to his second ex-wife, Gayle Killilea.“In addition, the debtor will seek injunctive relief in Ireland against parties that knowingly accept any proceeds from what the debtor contends is a fraudulent process,” Mr Dunne wrote in the filing. Reached by text, Ms Killilea declined to comment. Ms Coyle could not be reached for comment. The other payments approved last week were $693,251 to his US bankruptcy trustee Richard M Coan and $333,913 to the US law firm of Cohn, Birnbaum & Shea, which represented Mr Coan.Other reasons Mr Dunne gave for the judge to set aside her distribution order included his inability to access the online federal court documents website and what he said was the court’s failure to docket one of his filings in a timely manner.Mr Dunne built a sprawling property during Ireland’s Celtic Tiger boom, only to see it collapse in a massive pile of debt after the 2008 financial crisis. Owing hundreds of millions of euros, Mr Dunne and his then wife Ms Killilea moved to the US in an attempt to start over. His creditors pursued him there, leading Mr Dunne to file for bankruptcy in the US courts in 2013. In a 2019 US civil trial, jurors ruled in favour of Mr Dunne’s creditors, finding that he had improperly transferred €19.1 million to Ms Killilea to shield it from them and ordered its surrender. Shortly after the trial, it emerged that Mr Dunne and Ms Killilea had divorced. Mr Dunne has fought ever since to overturn the verdict and block distribution of the money the jury ordered him to pay.
