Michael Lynn Arrested in Brazil
It has been announced today, August 30th 2013, that fugitive disbarred Mayo solicitor Michael Lynn was arrested in Brazil late yesterday evening. The picture with this post shows him being led away by Brazilian law enforcement officials.
This is a unique departure as there is no official extradition treaty between Ireland and Brazil. Lynn, his wife Bríd and their son have been resident since June 2012 in the country on the basis of their son being born in Brazil. The Irish government has been aware of Lynn’s address in Brazil since his application for Brazilian residency, but in the absence of an extradition treaty they were unable to touch him. Irish Justice minister Alan Shatter has indicated that the arrest was made on the basis of a new arrangement of ‘reciprocity’ between the countries.
Lynn left Ireland owing a variety of financial institutions a figure estimated to be close to €80m. His KenDar Holdings firm also left many overseas property investors out of pocket for uncompleted property developments in the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko and a coastal Portuguese scheme in Cabanas near the Spanish border.
An arrest warrant was issued for 44 year old Lynn (see below post) when he failed to turn up for a court case at the High Court in 2011 and it is believed that he has not been back to the country since. He moved around Europe for a number of years, being regularly seen in Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal, before finally moving on to Brazil in 2012.
The Irish government are believed to have requested Lynn’s extradition to Ireland to face the charges against him. Lynn was arrested by federal police in the provence of Pernambuco, where he is believed to have been living in the city of Jaboatao dos Guararapes, just outside Recife in the North East of the country. He was teaching English in the Britanic Aflitos school in Recife.
A Brazilian judge will have to hear the case before the extradition process can be initiated, no date has yet been set for this process. It is very likely that Lynn and his legal team will challenge the legality of the extradition process. In the interim he will stay in Recife’s maximum security Abreu Lima prison where he was taken after his arrest.
This story appears in a number of Irish news outlets today including the Irish Independent (and here for footage of his arrest), the Journal, RTE (includes TV news report), the Examiner and the Irish Times.
On the up-side for Lynn, who is from Crossmalina, might be back in Ireland in time for the 2013 All Ireland Football final – in which Mayo are participating. Lynn has a history of riding on the coat-tails of the grass-roots attraction of GAA stars, along with Rugby and Soccer stars, and had a prosperous (for Lynn) relationship with legendary Mayo footballer Willie-Joe Padden as well as Galway hurling great Joe Connolly, among others. Quite a few people would be very glad to see him back on the ‘auld sod’, for one reason or another.
Age of Michael Lynn
It is being widely reported that Michael Lynn is 43 (including RTE and the Irish Independent) but he was in fact 44 at the time of this arrest in Brazil and will be 45 on September 10th 2013. See a picture of his passport below, he was born on September 10th 1968 and his Irish passport runs out in February 2014.
Hi Diarmaid,
I was one of the investors in Micheal Lynns development in Cabanas Portugal.I was wondering in the wake of Lynns arrest in Brazil is there anything I can do to try and get some of my investment back or is it a waste of time as the bank will be heading the queue,
best regards Cyril Sheridan.
I’d be very surprised if there’s anything to get for anybody Cyril, certainly not after the banks get at him. I believe Lynn has lost most of the money in property deals.
If there is money there it certainly won’t come close to the €80m the banks claim he owes them so smaller investors should put themselves out of their misery and write it off to experience. It’s not right, but it is the way the law in Ireland, and most other jurisdictions, works. If you have money and power you’ll have access to resources to recover whatever is to be recovered, the man and woman on the street just get the carcass, if even that.
The best investors can hope for is that he’s brought back to Ireland and held in captivity for a long time.