The High Court extended former property developer Thomas McFeely’s bankruptcy until 30 May 2020 after finding that he had seriously and persistently failed to cooperate with the Official Assignee and disclose assets.
In a judgment delivered on 1 June 2016, Ms Justice Costello ruled on an application under section 85A of the Bankruptcy Act 1988. McFeely had been adjudicated bankrupt in Ireland on 30 July 2012. The court could extend the bankruptcy to no later than the eighth anniversary of that date, 30 July 2020.
The Official Assignee’s application ultimately relied on McFeely’s failure to give his actual address, disclose interests in seven apartments at Aras na Cluaine and five units at Old Sawmills Industrial Estate, and file a complete sworn statement of affairs. The judge found that he had given a Derry address where he did not live, while refusing to identify where he lived in London. She described the continuing failure to provide his residential address as deliberate.
Documents showed his interest in the seven apartments and the five industrial units. McFeely argued that third parties, including his brother, had beneficial interests in some properties. The judge said those claims did not remove his obligation to disclose his own interests so the Official Assignee could assess and realise the estate. She found that the non-disclosure amounted to a significant failure to cooperate and an attempt to hide assets. The combined value of the five industrial units was estimated in evidence at €750,000 to €1 million.
The judge also found that a statement of affairs prepared for McFeely’s earlier English bankruptcy did not meet the Irish statutory requirement: it omitted the properties at issue, and he knew it was incomplete. The court rejected his arguments that the Official Assignee’s conduct required the application to be dismissed and that documents obtained from company premises should be excluded.
However, the judge held that the section 27 seizure warrant did not authorise entry to premises leased to Coalport Building Company Ltd. She said the Official Assignee could have sought the lessee’s consent or applied for a section 28 warrant. That limit did not defeat the application: the judge found independent evidence of McFeely’s property interests, and held he could not object on the company’s behalf.
Costello J. characterised the established breaches as being at the “very grave end” of the scale and said they had severely prejudiced the realisation of the estate for creditors. She ordered the maximum extension permitted, with a slight reduction because of McFeely’s age, setting discharge for 30 May 2020. She did not take the period of his annulled English bankruptcy into account.