A company that invested €2 million in what it was led to believe was a secure deposit account lost more than €1.75 million after it turned out that the money went to a cloned and fraudulent entity masquerading as a legitimate firm, it has been claimed in the Commercial Court. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien/The Irish TimesA company that invested €2 million in what it was led to believe was a secure deposit account lost more than €1.
There is no claim of fraud against the defendants who, Annaba claims, have not admitted liability for the alleged negligent advice.‘If I wanted to get rich, I wouldn’t be doing criminal legal aid work - I want to get paid promptly for what I do’The case was admitted to the fast-track commercial list by Mr Justice Denis McDonald on Monday and on consent between the parties.
Last June, he met Declan Merry, whose firm acts as Annaba’s accountants, along with two other people to discuss where the money should be invested. On August 9th, the Central Bank of Ireland issued a warning that a fraudulent entity had cloned and impersonated a legitimate investment firm called RBS Asset Management Ltd. It operated using websites including www.rbsinternational.ie and an associated email address.