The High Court has found Kevin McNulty, Conal Byrne, Ashburton Construction and P.A. Bello Limited liable to National Asset Loan Management Limited in proceedings over loans and guarantees. The court accepted the lender’s evidence on sums outstanding as of 25 June 2013, but said it would hear counsel on the amounts due as of the judgment date.
In a judgment delivered on 26 July 2013, Mr Justice Brian J. McGovern said the claims arose from lending and guarantees originally made by Anglo Irish Bank. The liabilities were later transferred to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and acquired by National Asset Loan Management Limited, which the judgment also calls NALM and describes as the plaintiff.
The facilities included €73.431 million for McNulty, €3.848 million for Ashburton and €3.734 million for P.A. Bello. The judgment records that the facilities were repayable on demand, with stated repayment dates in 2009. McNulty and Byrne had also given guarantees for company borrowing.
The defendants disputed the amounts claimed and raised a range of defences, including delay, mistake, alleged changes to guarantees, breach of duty and failure to meet conditions for lending. The judge rejected the delay argument, finding the companies continued to use facilities after the guarantees were given and that demands were made in February 2012. He accepted evidence from NAMA and IBRC witnesses on the balances and on NALM’s entitlement to bring the claims.
The judgment says McNulty and Byrne admitted signing the guarantees without reading them, despite having access to professional advice. The judge found no credible evidence of bank wrongdoing or of a material alteration to the P.A. Bello guarantee. He rejected the non est factum defence and said the signatories were bound by the documents. He also rejected the arguments based on unmet conditions precedent, alleged bank insolvency, reckless lending and the contra proferentem rule.
The judge found Ashburton and P.A. Bello liable for sums advanced to them. He found McNulty liable for his personal facilities and under guarantees for both companies’ debts, and Byrne liable under his guarantee for Ashburton’s debt.
The court accepted the figures presented for 25 June 2013: €89,989,896.65 claimed against McNulty in total, €4,259,849.43 against Byrne, €4,259,849.43 against Ashburton and €3,486,902.06 against P.A. Bello. Those figures included interest. The judgment did not set out final amounts due on 26 July; counsel were to be heard on that question.