Former solicitor Michael Lynn has been jailed for five and a half years for stealing just over €18m from financial institutions in 2006 and 2007.
Lynn, who is 55 and from Millbrook Court, Redcross, Co Wicklow, had pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of theft amounting to almost €30m from a number of financial institutions between October 2006 and April 2007 but was convicted of ten offences after a trial last year.
The court heard Lynn took out multiple mortgages on the same properties from different financial institutions who did not know other banks were also providing finance.
Judge Martin Nolan set an overall sentence of 13 years, but he said he would give Lynn credit of seven and a half years to take into account the time he spent in a Brazilian prison fighting his extradition to Ireland, meaning he faces an effective prison term of five and a half years.
Lynn spent four and a half years in prison in Brazil but the judge gave him extended credit for the time spent there because of the conditions he endured in jail.
His lawyers said he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and a type of skin cancer as a result of what he had gone through.
The court heard Lynn now faces further legal proceedings seeking a confiscation order against him in relation to property and bank accounts.
In his defence Lynn claimed he had "off the books" agreements with the banks to use the loan money for his property developments abroad and that they were all aware of what he was doing.
The financial institutions involved were National Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Ulster Bank, ACC Bank, Bank of Scotland Ireland and Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS).
They all vehemently denied that they knew what Lynn was doing or that they had agreed to it.
Lynn left Ireland in 2007, travelling initially to London and Portugal and then to Brazil.
Judge Nolan said he had led gardaí on a "merry dance" and had had no intention of being interviewed by them.
He was eventually arrested by police in Brazil in 2013 and was extradited to Ireland in March 2018.
Detective Sergeant Shane Curtis of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau gave evidence in today's sentencing hearing.
He agreed with prosecuting counsel, Karl Finnegan that it had been open to Lynn "at the stroke of a pen" to end his time in prison in Brazil by agreeing to come back to Ireland.
Defence Counsel, Paul Comiskey O’Keeffe said the conditions Lynn had been held in in Brazil carried very significant weight as a mitigating factor.
He said his client had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
He had also been diagnosed with a type of skin cancer in 2023 as a result of being exposed to direct sunlight without any protection while in prison.
He said the difficulties that had arisen as a result of his time in prison would continue to affect him "in a very profound way".
Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe said there was very real potential that Lynn’s overall life expectancy would be affected.
He said his client continued to have disturbed sleep and flashbacks.
His children were dealing with public shame as well as considerable upheaval and disruption in their young lives and this was a source of great stress and shame for him.
Lynn was jailed just before Christmas in advance of today’s sentencing hearing and Mr Comiskey O’Keeffe this had had a triggering effect on him and a renewed impact on his family.
He also told Judge Nolan that it was always Lynn’s intention to pay the money back.
The judge said Lynn had spotted an opportunity when he spotted that the banks did not check whether properties were bought or charges registered against them once they had given out loans.
He said he accepted Lynn thought he could repay the money. However he said the amount of money involved was very serious.
Judge Nolan said Lynn had brought his profession into disrepute and had acted in total disregard for his obligations as a solicitor and the for the interests of the people he was working with.
He said Lynn had many good points and was well capable of reform and of contributing to this country and society in due course.
The judge said he had no doubt he had endured onerous, difficult and pretty inhumane conditions in Brazil but he said he could have ended his ordeal by agreeing to come home.
Judge Nolan said he believed an appropriate sentence was 16 years for Lynn’s "global misbehaviour".
However he would reduce that to 13 years as a result of mitigating factors including his lack of previous convictions.
And he said he would give him further credit of seven-and-a-half years for the time spent in the Brazilian prison system and the "inhuman" conditions he endured.
The court will hear an application for a confiscation of assets order relating to property and bank accounts on 16 April.
