Louis Trudel, a successful international architect and developer, has obtained a freezing order in the High Court in Dublin in relation to financing he provided to a building company in County Waterford.
Mr Trudel, a Canadian citizen who is the CEO of a Monaco company called TTMG International, told the court that he had provided loans totalling 1.2 million euros to Carray Homes to fund the building of 31 housing units at Adamstown Kilmeaden. The money was to be paid in two tranches, 300,000 euros for working capital and 900,000 euros to acquire the building land. The loans were due to be repaid within 11 months with an annual interest rate of 30 percent.
However, when Mr Darren Carroll, who is reported to be a director of Carray Homes, was asked for a progress report Mr Trudel suspected that aerial photographs of the site had been digitally falsified. Mr Carroll claimed that drone photos could not be taken without the permission of neighbours.
A colleague of Mr Trudel was able to take his own aerial pictures of the prospective building site which appeared to confirm the original suspicions.
Mr Trudel told the High Court that the falsified progress report and the fact that he had not seen any agreement between Carray Homes and Waterford Council on the council’s alleged agreement to buy the finished homes amounted to a breach of the loan agreement. He also said that he had “a genuine and well-founded fear” that the funds have been “dissipated”.
The sum of 50,000 euros has been repaid to Mr Trudel, the court heard. The judge granted Mr Trudel a temporary injunction or freezing orders preventing the defendants from reducing or dissipating their assets below a value of 250,000 euros.
RocketReach, the information portal, has the following statement purporting to be from TTMG: “TTMG is an international Design firm and property development company, with offices in Monaco and Buenos Aires. That list of cosmopolitan cities is a good reflection of the qualities that make us a distinctive business – and a successful one. We combine the highest international standards of design, construction and quality control. From chic retail interiors for the world’s most elite brands, to beautiful houses for some of its most demanding buyers. From glass and steel office space for America’s biggest investment banks, to new sales floors for Britain’s most famous department store. From the careful refurbishment of an iconic listed building in the heart of London, to an equally iconic new bank HQ in the centre of downtown Baku.”
PHOTO: An impression of the development site at Adamstown Kilmeaden, marked sold at 895,000 euros by estate agent Sherry FitzGerald. Fair Use