Property developer Liam Carroll is being personally sued for €60m by Irish Nationwide Building Society arising from guarantees over loans made to his company Aifca Ltd.
The proceedings by INBS against Mr Carroll and Aifca, Upper Mount Street, Dublin, were admitted to the Commercial Court today.
Irish Nationwide Building Society claims Liam Carroll gave an ‘irrevocable guarantee’ in September 2006 guaranteeing payment of all liabilities of his company Aifca to it up to €60m.
On the basis of that guarantee, and subject to the terms of a commercial mortgage agreement, Irish Nationwide says it granted and maintained a term loan facility to Aifca for €66.5m.
It claims the loan allowed the company to refinance loans and to buy share capital in another company.
It claims the repayment of the loan was to be made on demand or within two years but that Aifca and Liam Carroll had failed to repay the money.
In a sworn statement, the society's commercial lending manager Tom McMenamin says he and the INBS chief executive Michael Fingleton met Liam Carroll last year when Mr Carroll said he could deal with €30m of the guarantee.
He said Mr Carroll said AIB and Bank of Scotland Ireland had the largest exposure arising from his developments and he needed their support to resolve the problems.
Lawyers for Liam Caroll and Aifca told the Commercial court that Mr Carroll would be contending that the guarantee under which Irish nationwide was claiming the €60M had expired because security had been put in place meaning the guarantee was for half that amount.
A statement of affairs for Mr Carroll and his wife at October 31st last year supplied to Irish Nationwide showed assets of €259.5M and a bank debt of €149M.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly set a date for hearing for 17 July next.
