Business
Frank Cushnahan (84) found ‘not guilty’ of fraud in long-running Northern Ireland Nama trial
DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.
An 84-year-old man was acquitted on Monday of a charge of fraud arising from a proposal to purchase the Northern Ireland loan book of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).
Following an investigation that began more than 10 years ago and a mammoth four-month trial, corporate financier Frank Cushnahan was found “not guilty” by the jury.
As the businessman stood in the dock of Belfast Crown Court, a court clerk asked the foreman of the jury if they had reached a verdict upon which they were all agreed.
When the foreman said they hadn’t, he was then asked if they had reached a verdict on which at least 10 of them were agreed.
In response, he replied “yes” and when asked by the court clerk what that verdict was, the foreman replied “not guilty”.
The verdict followed more than 10 hours of deliberations, spanning three days.
After delivering the verdict, Madam Justice McBride addressed Cushnahan and said: “You have been found not guilty by the jury so you are free to leave.”
The judge then thanked the nine men and three women of the jury for their service and patience during the “long trial”.
“For those who wish, I’m happy to exclude for life from jury service,” the judge added
Reacting to the acquittal, Cushnahan’s solicitor Paul Dougan spoke outside court and said: “Obviously we are delighted with today’s outcome.
“Mr Cushnahan is very grateful to the jury for their deliberation, he’s very grateful for their patience and for their attention to what was a lengthy and at times a difficult trial.”
Mr Dougan
added that Cushnahan was also grateful to his friends and family “who have stood by him over these last difficult months and years”.
When asked how his client was, Dougan replied: “He’s relieved, he’s tired. At the end of the day he’s an 84-year old man. He hasn’t missed one day of this trial, he’s never been sick.
“He’s been here, engaged … committed to the process and he’s relieved today.”
Cushnahan was accused of and cleared of a charge of fraud by failing to disclose information between April 1st and November 7th, 2013.
The charge related to the sale of the Northern Ireland property loan book held by Nama.
The agency was set up Dublin in 2009 following the property crash and banking crisis to take over billions of euros of property development debts held by a number of Irish domestic banks.
It was alleged that Cushnahan acted dishonestly by secretly working on a deal with American investment fund Pimco regarding the proposed sale of the Northern Ireland loan book in the expectation that he would receive around £5 million of a success fee.
Cushnahan was accused of failing to disclosure any conflict of interests, which the Crown claimed he was under a legal duty to do, while appointed as an external member of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee of Nama.
The Committee was set up by Nama to advise in respect of the property debts in Northern Ireland.
Ultimately, Pimco withdrew its interest in purchasing the Northern Ireland loan book in March 2014 and the following month the portfolio was purchased by another party.
During the trial, Cushnahan’s defence rejected suggestions that the he had acted dishonestly for personal gain.
His barrister described the businessman as “man of very considerable character, experience and knowledge” who had been subjected to “character assassination”.
When the trial commenced last September, Cushnahan stood in the dock alongside co-accused Ian Coulter.
The 54-year-old former managing partner of Tughans solicitors, from Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, was charged with five offences over a time frame of April 3rd to December 1st, 2014 – one of which was a fraud charge jointly levelled at Cushnahan.
Last December Coulter’s senior barrister became unwell and as a result, the judge ruled that Coulter could not get a fair trial due to the absence of senior counsel.
As a result, Coulter was granted permission to leave the dock on continuing bail and the trial proceeded on one of the two charges Cushnahan faced.
At that stage it emerged that it was the intention hat Coulter would face trial on all five charges in due course. When this hearing starts, Cushnahan will be back on trial on the single count he still faces.
