By: Michael O’Farrell
Investigations Editor In Montenegro
DISGRACED banker Michael Fingleton has been reprimanded by a judge in Montenegro after he failed to attend a court hearing related to a multi-million euro hotel development on the Balkan state’s Adriatic coast.
Prior to this week Mr Fingleton had failed to appear six times before the commercial court in Podgorica, where he is to be questioned about the documents he has provided to prove the origins of the €5.5m he used to buy the hotel.
The hearing is part of an ongoing commercial dispute between the former Irish Nationwide boss and businessman Louis Maguire, who has also lodged formal criminal complaints against Mr Fingleton which are being investigated in Montenegro.
Those complaints were lodged after the authorities there raised money-laundering concerns about the origins of the €5.5m Mr Fingleton transferred into the country to buy a derelict hotel known as Hotel Fjord in the coastal town of Kotor.
In return for putting together the deal, Mr Maguire secured a 25% stake in the project and before they fell out the pair had planned a €70m redevelopment.
But eight years later, much to the frustration of the local authorities in Kotor and the government in Montenegro, the hotel still lies empty.
He was due to appear last March, but after failing to arrive Mr Fingleton’s Serbian lawyer, Nikola Babic, provided the court with written confirmation that he would appear on May 9. But at the scheduled hearing on Friday there was no sign of either Mr Fingleton or Mr Babic.
Instead a junior lawyer – Dejan Boric – appeared, and told the court that Mr Fingleton could not make it. ‘He intended to come and he was on the way,’ Mr Boric told the court. ‘But he could not make it because of an unavoidable business commitment that he had to attend to.’ The presiding judge, Dragica Vujanovic, asked for further details about the location of Mr Fingleton and his senior legal team but Mr Boric asked for an adjournment saying he had no further information.
Complaining to the court, Mr Maguire said; ‘This is a very serious case and Mr Fingleton has avoided … the courts system in Montenegro for in excess of seven years now.’ Judge Vujanovic set a new date of July 8 for Mr Fingleton to appear, saying there would be no further adjournments.
‘The defendant must appear next time and, if not, the hearing will continue and I will make a ruling in his absence. Every court should be respected whether it is in Montenegro or any other country. I will take this behaviour … into account.’ In particular, Judge Vujanovic reprimanded Mr Fingleton for not telling the court in advance that he could not attend.
‘They did not inform me about this,’ said the judge. ‘They should have done that at least one or two days before this hearing and they should have provided proof of why he cannot attend.’ Judge Vujanovic said the failure to attend was incomprehensible given the value of the asset at stake. ‘Is it possible that a person does not appear when so much money is in question?’ she asked. ‘If he does not appear next time we will proceed and we will not call him anymore.’ ‘This is irresponsible behaviour because there have been a lot of costs for the other parties who did travel to attend.’
