3. Alone Against the Crowd

Under the Radar                               

He seemed to hold the world in the palm of his hand, to have every successful Irish business person in his line of vision. To know him was to live in his world, where they measured success by net worth. To others, he simply flew under their radar. He was Managing Director of a Bank that soon would become known as a fringe Bank, a grey Bank living in the shadows in pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland.  He appeared to have his finger on the pulse of the nation. Nothing of importance seemed to happen around him without him knowing about it. That’s how Joseph Friel first appeared on his radar. By the time they met, Joseph had sourced all the financing required for his planned retail Acquisition, modernisation and the working capital too. With with the assistance of Accountants and Solicitors, he had received Institutional support to acquire a Retail Chain of shops with an extensive property portfolio. His name was Eugene M. O’Carthy, Bank Managing Director, and he was introduced to Joseph by his Acquisition Accountants. Eugene thanked them for meeting with him at short notice, waived Joseph to the plush boardroom chair and immediately outlined his interest.

“Our Bank has an Open Fund that is actively looking for new property-based investments with an income stream and I understand, Joseph, that you might have such an opportunity. Would you like to tell me about it?”. Eugene’s engaging personality immediately struck Joseph. He was undeniably charming, courteous and folksy in his mannerism. Joseph liked his insightful vignettes about business people and their little known ventures which he dropped into every conversation with ease, relishing in calling them clients, friends or acquaintances. Joseph liked his understated manner, despite a lofty title. To Joseph, their network appeared to be a club of critical influencers with serious Bank support.

So Joseph immediately took Eugene through a synopsis of his Acquisition research document. He talked enthusiastically about the retail Chain he was about to acquire, the professional valuations of the property portfolio held, before going on to talk about the opportunities and threats in as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed venture. Joseph moved on swiftly to the centrepiece of his exciting new retail vision, the elaborate modernisation programme ready for its flagship store to deliver Ireland First Speciality Store. He talked about future expansion plans as described in that proposal. His retail research caught Eugene’s imagination with its breadth of knowledge of global retail innovation dating back to 1850. Joseph freely referenced the international volume, The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping, that had catalogued every evolution, describing retailing as the last great social activity.He delighted in drawing attention to the wonder of Bon Marche in Paris, the acknowledged original modern-day Department Store from 1852 which he had visited, and a format that survives to this day, worldwide. Joseph described how its eye-catching story was captured so brilliantly by Emile Zola’s novel, Ladies Paradise (1883), a copy of which Joseph proudly held, published after its grande expansion, undertaken by the engineering firm of Gustave Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel Tower. Finally, he focused on the Funding requirements set out in the document together with the comprehensive financial figures supporting it. It appeared that Eugene was deeply impressed, and Joseph readily agreed to share the full Acquisition document with him later that day together with the associated retail development plans, in complete confidence. Eugene undertook to look them over and get back to him that week since everything seemed to be moving along so rapidly.

The very next day, Eugene called; he loved the presentation, asked if they could meet up that day to discuss their proposed offer. As soon as seated, Eugene cut to the chase immediately. He was very impressed with Joseph’s extensive retail analysis and depth of vision, the strength of the property portfolio involved and details of the Retail Chain with advanced expansion plans for which he had an agreement in place to acquire. He did not delay. “I have the authority of my Bank to offer you the Acquisition, development and working capital Funding you require as set out in that document. Uniquely, we can provide all the finance from one source, which would avoid the complexities involved in marrying several different financial sources together, as you have presently.” Pausing to assess the reaction of his audience, Eugene continued “I should add that our offer would involve minimal red tape, something that is not the norm with competing funds. What may be of special interest to you, Joseph, is that our Bank would also be able to provide additional finance should you require it from time to time to feed the appetite of an expanding retail chain.” Eugene was on-board and hitting all the right notes. He had Joseph’s rapt attention. He thought he could be especially useful in introducing key retail people to support the expansionary plans outlined and, to clinch the deal, he would be happy to offer Joseph a hotline to him, day or night, for ready access to his personal expertise should it be required.

To conclude, he just asked that their offer be considered carefully and compared with the other offers to hand before making his final decision. That air of humility, the absence of any apparent pressure, offer of personal involvement in the future success of the venture all combined to confirm Joseph’s belief. He was looking at a match made in heaven; was wishing all Bankers would be more like him. Eugene’s elaborate cocktail of support was enough to persuade him. He stood up, accepted the Bank’s offer in-principle on the terms outlined, and he marked the occasion by sharing a firm handshake and a characteristic smile. Joseph said he would study the contracts when drawn up and revert asap.

Years later looking back, Joseph realised how Eugene had built a strong relationship on a foundation of trust he earned by listening intensely, empathising with his challenges ahead and immersing himself in Joseph’s vision for retailing. Eugene mentioned his role serving on the Board of Directors of dozens of companies of some influence, a list which his Secretary would happily share on request. The evidence of his unwavering support was apparent in how he regularly called in the interim for updates on progress with retail development plans and timeframes. Subsequently, his frequent engagements always displayed an air of charm, a broad smile and shared a joke or two intermingled with storytelling from his beloved business banking world. He equally had a voracious appetite for the innovative retail insights in which Joseph often regaled with fellow travellers. Joseph drew these at will from extensive international retail research, leading retail consultant’s reports of emerging European Retail formats, London shop designers or innovative ideas following attendance at leading Buyer Fairs in London, Paris, Munich, Dusseldorf and New York. Joseph felt he was on a shared mission. Eugene had successfully arrived under the radar, just like he had done with so many others in his camp.

Truth and Justice First Casualty

It was too late before Joseph realised he ought not to have been so trusting. He should have followed up when once flagged about the emerging world of grey banking in Ireland, but who knew or who would tell him then?Eugene harboured a big dark secret from his past that few suspected, and one that none of his associates would acknowledge for decades to come due to its sensitive nature. Joseph had developed a habit of keeping records of his lucid dreams, and one, in particular, warned him of distrust in his camp, gave him a glimpse into the future, and it scared him. The first clue did not take long to emerge. The Bank sowed their first poisonous seeds of distrust on that very night of the Acquisition when secretly producing an onerous side document for immediate signature by Joseph, just before contract closure. Joseph instinctively knew his lawyers were right; it was sharp Bank practice. Even though Joseph tried hard to play down its significance, he would acknowledge years later that trust was the casualty that night, even before the honeymoon period had not properly begun. He would equally learn that nothing survives when built on the sands of distrust. In retrospect, the Bank’s intentions were uber clear from the outset. However, Joseph knew that he had little or no option, as failure to proceed that night would have resulted in the loss of a once-in-a-lifetime Acquisition deal for which he had worked so hard throughout that decade, with all conducted in full public view.  He would only have been able to watch helplessly as all his innovative retail plans evaporated too. He also knew that there were formidable competitors just waiting in the wings, ready to snap up the Chain of shops. And undoubtedly there would be other immediate consequences, the consequential loss of their jobs and substantial legal and accounting bills left behind.

Soon, reality hit home. Joseph was left voiceless, powerless and devoid of funds to protect his property and retail interests. His instincts went code red to warn him that silence was mandatory, muzzled just as in his dream if he was to avoid an even worse fate. Instead, Joseph decided to hoover up every detail of that harrowing experience now unfolding. He struggled to make sense of it all, determined to forewarn others so they would avoid similar business or personal banking pitfalls and bear traps. His firmly believed that those abject failures in life, experienced when hitting rock bottom, were the concealed start points of life’s steepest and best learning curves. He swore that the self-appointed winners would not have the final say this time, would not claim ultimate victory, and never be allowed to write his life story for him like with so many before him. He would not let the unjust practices inflicted by well-resourced collaborators, working in secret with former business allies, be allowed to ruin the lives of their victims as they walked roughshod over their dreams. He swore he would remain forever unbowed, but first, he needed to regain his voice and ensure it got heard, heeded and that it mattered. He would not merely observe in vain how one-time colleagues became opponents and enjoined as one collective force to be ranged against their victims. He would face head-on and expose their veiled threats of future peril, untruths, deceit, broken promises, grey banking practices and their faux conscience laundering way of life. For his part, he would use the insightful experiences that confronted him daily to learn all he could from inside their tent to sharpen his mind, strengthen his will, and double down on his determination to survive and succeed in his goal, on his terms. A better way would, could, should, ought to emerge from the ashes of those who travelled the same road of ambition. He promised himself it would not be a party to that out-moded, self-congratulatory mantra: It’s the Way the World Works! He would refuse to accept their way, surrounded and protected as it is through operating under the radar, as the only way.

It would be a further two years before his once-friendly Banker would consign Joseph’s company and his dreams of a lifetime to the retail scrap heap, using the legal instrument known as Receivership.  Joseph would learn that the first casualty of Receivership or Liquidation was the truth, and the second was justice. He would be abandoned, almost overnight by those whose word he took as reliable, even by people he trusted implicitly, was rejected and left to fight-on alone without any resources to defend his business, himself or his family’s wellbeing. He experienced once again what his lawyers called sharp Bank business practice, but Joseph would term it downright subterfuge. All his assets would be frozen, confiscated and then disposed of at firesale prices. He had always heard that in a Court of law the size of your bank balance rules, that since those with the largest purse can afford to employ the most influential advisors, and the best barristers they usually win. On 8^th May 2018, the Irish High Court President, Peter Kelly, in a rare comment of its kind confirmed to the Irish Independent his view that: “Only paupers and millionaires can afford Court”, adding “If you are a middle-class person on a middle-class salary, litigation in the High Court is potentially ruinous”. He went on to point out “We all know cases where the fees are a multiple of what’s at stake. And that applies across the board for all courts”. Joseph had learned that harsh life lesson, that there was not an affordable remedy available in the Courts for ordinary people who wish to prosecute or defend themselves against so-called deep pockets. Those are well-resourced Banks or people of considerable wealth, power and influence.

Word of Honour Bonds                

The Directors observed that, in their modus operandi, one unique professional practice stood out, although little known back then. Joseph had encountered an unforgettable experience at the start of his unfolding Receivership, a week after sign-off of their legal agreement for Overdraft retention. His trusted Advisors cum Auditors arrived in a stretch limousine and requested him to join them for the journey to what would prove to be a clandestine pre-Receivership Bank meeting; they could work well on the way, they cajoled. They opened the conversation casually with: “The Bank has been reviewing and revaluing the company’s extensive property portfolio based on rapid disposal values recognising the severe Recessionary climate that exists”. Sure, it was a decade during which Bank interest rates had reached a record-breaking 18% high. “What is happening here?”, Joseph interjected, sensing some trap. “The Bank has been re-examing company debts too, explicitly taking on board some backdated Revenue claims; discovered after writing to the Revenue Commissioners requesting a tax clearance cert on the company” continued his Auditor, with the attitude of someone with the inside story. Alarmed, and aware they knew he had been the company Accountant for ten years previously, Joseph was worried by the nature of such under-hand developments by his Auditors & Advisors; he demanded to know again what was going on? There was a rapid exchange of glances with a realisation that the game was up: “The Bank is considering appointing a Receiver over all your business properties and retail assets although they have not yet made a final decision nor anything like that” came the slightly sheepish reply.  After grasping the magnitude of the shockwave, Joseph exhorted “Yes, but the Bank’s Managing Director gave his solemn word on continuance, not even a week ago”. OK! “But that was before old Revenue debts dating back to pre-Acquisition time came to light, approaching a million pounds…” came the careless reply from one who appeared party to the entire decision. “But! There simply were no arrears”, Joseph protested as vociferously as he could in that Limo, continuing. “And since you are the Bank’s appointed Auditors to our company since then, you must know those claims to be manifestly untrue too, and you approved the Accounts without any questions too?” he exclaimed. “We missed it, being from the distant past it was on previous auditors watch, long before our time, but now we’re here, so we have to assume you owe it, but we’ll check all this out”, came the reply of someone with no concern for Joseph or the importance of the matter to him. “You know that’ll be much too late and, besides, should you not have done that first? And, the outgoing Directors gave a Warranty on those Revenue debts in our Acquisition Agreement too. Any such debts would fall back on their old company anyway if they did arise, which they won’t!”, stressed Joseph, feeling distrust oozing from their every word now.

His Auditors moved on uncomfortably to their end goal, offering even starker personal advice, which certainly did not favour Joseph’s business interests nor his wellbeing. Seeing his shock, they gave categorical assurances of their future undying commitments to him on all business fronts to appease him. Joseph reminded himself how he heard promises like that before, just a week ago to be exact. And yet, here we are! They omitted to mention that, legally speaking, they were not even having a meeting then. Although occupants could talk convincingly to their client in a Limo or taxi ride, nothing they said could be relied upon afterwards in the Courts of that time. Perversely, they retained the power to act on whatever instructions were conveyed to them and witnessed in return. In time he would learn how that practice had migrated to the golf course where no secrets revealed, no laws broken, and unwanted attention avoided. Joseph came to believe that week that Receiverships when in the hands of unethical people, are nothing more than a modern-day form of Confiscation akin to those that impoverished his people in yesteryear and seemingly continued in a protected legal way today. It was a bold asset grab, and he was furious, but that was of little consequence to them. Their trap had worked. Within a week those same Advisors cum Auditors would have officially switched sides to aid their new client, Joseph’s Bank. With his assets and bank accounts frozen, Joseph had no funds to retain their or any support that he needed anyway. Despite the unwritten rules of glass floors and ceilings, they not now in a uniquely informed position on Joseph and his company after being his well-paid Advisors cum Auditors under contract in the years immediately prior. The self-evident conflict of interest did not seem to arise or concern anyone in the mix. Had not those same Advisors cum Auditors been officially imposed by the Bank that fateful night of Acquisition when the Bank secretly produced an undisclosed side document, with their prior at least tacit approval? Had that not been timed for maximum pressure to coincide with the arrival of other teams who were all present and ready for contract closure in, by then, a public new story? Did that document not state preconditions for the hand-over of their £1.3 million bank draft on that night? Did that not include a condition on the appointment of the Bank’s Managing Director to the company Board of Directors too? Did it not name their choice of Advisors and Auditors, being the same one as the Bank itself? Did they not impose their selection of who became an insider company Accountant too? And did they not demand a sweetener of a 25% of that company for their offered ongoing Bank supports? They knew it was much too late for Joseph to refuse what they knew were onerous terms that night, but could not stop the process by then, not with all parties teams already in the room. They had selected their Receiver of choice now to take over Joseph’s extensive portfolio of property and retail assets. They had collaborated with their insider company’s Accountant too and prepared Joseph’s hotly disputed books declaring an Insolvency that he challenged in vain. His Director’s and Owners rights were trampled upon and his voice effectively silenced, but why? That Limo ride was the start of their long goodbye to him and all his retail property assets. On that ride, the Bank-imposed Auditors cum Advisors had advised Joseph confidentially that, just in case the Bank were to favour a Receivership, he should offer personal Bankruptcy as a way to mollify the Bank and postpone that fateful day! What a thought. The Limo arrived at the Bank. As they entered, Joseph saw their insider company Accountant in an office adjacent to the boardroom in the Bank, obviously an integral role player in some secret plan now unfolding. It was a day he would never allow himself to forget, the betrayal by so many who posed as trusted professionals. But! Why on earth was this all happening, how will it all going to end, the thought still burned bright in his brain.

Just as soon their client’s Receivership was up and running, Joseph’s Solicitors were soon uber keen to depart and share in the dividend of Bank’s extensive legal caseload handouts from their many upcoming Retailer Receiverships. Yes, the same Bank was about to seize many other prestigious retail assets all over that City, during a four-month Receivership blitz period. Joseph’s former advisors would shift allegiance one by one to enjoin with the Banks Managing Director in foreclosing on those companies to sell-off their valuable prime properties and other retail assets at deep discounts to eager purchasers, all of course as the law permitted. Without money to stop the perceived injustice and without his voice heard, Joseph was powerless to hire non-conflicted professionals. He realised that day that while success had many fathers, failure was indeed an orphan. Feeling alone in the middle of an unfolding catastrophe, without weapons left to protect himself, his family or their interests, Joseph felt very much isolated and excluded.

An Elixir of Life

There was just one thing writ large on his brain, one last power over which Joseph retained control, the decision never to give up. He knew he must survive the imminent onslaught on his family’s way of life somehow if he ever hoped to stand and give-challenge to unethical Banking and professional practice that ruins so many families without an apparent care in the world. But how? He worried about the status of his Personal Guarantee with the Bank, a threat with grave implications when trust is gone. Unable to pay the mortgage, without a job, he faced an imminent risk of homelessness and the growing reality that he might soon struggle to put food on the table for his young family and pregnant wife. Meanwhile, the other Banks moved to withdraw his personal overdraft, and his personally guaranteed business and individual credit cards, referring to lost jobs of both earners in the home. The Building Society became edgy too, adding to the stress, seeing little prospect of their finding other jobs or incomes in the Emigration ridden days of the mid-1980s. Their social circle dwindled, although family and a few friends stayed close and stoically loyal. The situation seemed dire; they were on their knees. Cash had become King again, and they had none. Money had become the Elixir of Life, the cure-all, essential for social inclusion. He had hit rock bottom, but that was when the steel within only revealed itself. He held on dearly to his old mantra: ‘It’s not what happens to you in life, its what you do about what happens to you’.

Incredulously, he was witnessing what he instinctively believed to be the sowing of the seeds of potential economic destruction for himself and probably for his country too, unless there was a radical change of course. He was alone against the crowd in this dilemma, but it was happening to countless others around him also. He was witnessing something extraordinary unfolding that he could not yet understand but sensed was vital to be their future. He found himself at the coal face of radical change on a scale never imagined before. Right then, however, he just knew that no one was going to listen to a perceived loser without money or influence, but he vowed that he would never give up until he found the truth and true story’s told. Somehow, that seemed to matter most of all. Joseph went over those traumatic events once more in his mind, making sure he missed nothing of importance, determined to search until he uncovered answers. He knew everything happened for a reason, but what was the lesson? Joseph had come to believe that life’s purpose only reveals itself when looking back, joining up the dots. Yet! Life seemed determined to cast him in a role for which he had never prepared, never anticipated. Was that because he was a dedicated observer of the world around him, with an adventurous spirit? Or, because he would succeed in whatever goals he set his mind to, and never quit? Could it be the young Journalist that still resided within or perhaps the library Researcher, the Accountant, or the dedicated Writer, whichever one would ultimately shine brightest? Or, was it his growing commitment to a scale of Social Change that would open a new path for a society that was by then headed for calamity?

The fact that 158 people would lose their livelihoods did not matter to them; they had already blamed the Management, silencing them too. After a long and painful silence, the Receivers consented and allowed Joseph, being their lunchtime now, to use that period only to peruse their 200-page Appointment document in full but insisting he then must then sign. What he discovered astonished him. Joseph saw in the Receiver’s legal papers how they planned to sell one of his two prime freehold properties that had been officially valued at £500,000 for only £1 to a company that the same Bank would also place in Receivership a month later. He objected, the next day they withdrew the proposal, and the property was subsequently sold on the open market by them for £550,000, further reducing their computed Insolvency computations. Undisclosed by the Receivers, was another page deep in the documents they had asked Joseph to sign, unread, a paper giving them Power of Attorney to act in his name. While not entirely uncommon, but given his loss of all trust in the Bank, his Auditors cum Advisors, and now Receivers he was never going to consent. He had no idea then how much more important that decision would prove to be. In shock but with no remedy in sight, all his instincts screamed that something big was going on, some darker force was at work. He would refuse to sign the Appointment document at all until amended. Still, first, he slipped out of the Receivers offices that lunchtime in secret and carrying the documents he rushed to his outgoing Solicitors offices nearby. He officially instructed them to copy the papers as future evidence for reasons he quickly blurted out, which instruction they dutifully carried out before expected complications occurred. That began another day of drama he would never forget, one that he would fervently believe saved him from a far worse fate. He would always remember that was the day he learned that money was the de facto elixir of life, why it was colloquially known as ‘the green monster’. The Receivers moaned about all the extra work involved for all of them, but Joseph knew it was a small but essential if rare win, a brake on some undeclared plans. Demonstrating a resilience they did not expect, he had resisted the Receiver’s intense pressure to sign the legal documents before he had read them, the very request escalating his suspicions; only to discover what he believed to be subterfuge.

Joseph observed other disputed practices in the Receiver’s calculation that had won Court approval, given no defence. The Auditors had already appraised the Receivers of Joseph’s direct challenge in the Limo to what he believed to be a spurious Revenue debt of £1 million in their computation of Insolvency to justify their Receivership to the Courts. They had brushed away those protests, saying “not until we get in there, then we can investigate and try to address them…but first, let’s sign these papers” they insisted, gesturing impatiently. Their estimated £1 million Revenue debt used to compute that Insolvency never factually materialised. He had observed what he believed to be unethical practices in their plans for the disposal of one of his company’s prime retail assets; the property was subsequently sold on the open market by Receivers for £550,000, further reducing their Insolvency. He had intervened to stall other plans for the firesale of prime trading assets at far below market value. They continued to dismiss all ongoing objections out of hand; did not share Joseph’s enthusiasm. He persisted vocally, demanding to be heard and heeded, and finally, they relented. The Directors insisted and developed an alternative plan to dispose of the merchandise in a four week advertised Sale instead. It realised double their projected values and was used to reduce Insolvency computations by a further £250,000.

Without Trust Nothing Matters                

As a CIMA Accountant, Joseph fully understood the enormous implications of Receivership for himself, his business, employees, creditors and family’s way of life. Under the law, his Bank had acted to select a high profile Accountancy body’s Partner as Receiver over Joseph’s company, to take possession of all his business assets, who was then officially appointed by the High Court without an affordable defence. With the company’s Insolvency unilaterally declared by the Bank, and without access to the now frozen funds to challenge and overturn their assessment, he had no other option as Director but to sign the legal papers confirming their appointment and call in the Receivers. Alternatively, they advised they would have him hauled before the courts for illegal trading. He knew that once a company is declared insolvent by its Auditors, that company is required to cease trading immediately to safeguard its assets in the interests of the creditors or face serious consequences. He knew Receivers would take possession of his company’s extensive retail assets and properties as specified in a legal charge under an earlier secured loan agreement. He knew too that it was only the beginning of a downward spiral; that they were in total control now. He knew that with remote High Court oversight, and without an affordable defence, he had no voice left to question them. Receivers knew that Courts process very well, and the Courts knew them to be recognised practitioners. They could only adjudicate on facts as presented. There was only one party empowered now to do that, the Bank. And the Receivers controlled the key to the money pot and held power to liquidate Joseph’s assets to keep it filled. It was a grossly unequal fight. But Joseph would observe many other crucial practices that week too.

Absolute power was in the hands of the Bank and the Receivers, although they were required to protect all Creditors interests by law also. But! pretty soon the Owner interests and that of other Creditors would fade into obscurity. He realised that so-called and much-vaunted glass ceilings and floors between Bank and Business world were a myth, something to be relied upon at your peril. Retrospectively, he reflected on how those documents securing the business Overdraft and providing personal guarantee as Owner-Director, that granted the Bank that powers to appoint a Receiver had only been signed-off under intense pressure just two weeks prior. Joseph was always an avid reader of contracts before signing them. He recalled how all his senses warned of impending danger in the terminology used and, upon taking legal advice to confirm, expressed his growing concern to his Banking Co-Director about their intentions. The Bank did not relent; they said they would immediately and publicly announce their withdrawal of support as sole Banker for his company if not signed promptly. They would freeze all business bank accounts overnight, return all pipeline cheques. After some tense exchanges, they reached an agreement. The Directors would agree to sign the papers based on their Bank Co-Director’s solemn assurance, volunteered by word of mouth, of “the Bank’s ongoing support, well into the future; but if you cannot take my word, we’re done here anyway “. He would break his promise within a week. What was Bank’s intention at that time when they made their solemn promise, he wondered but did not dwell?

When the Bank put events in motion to appoint a Receiver within a week, their intentions were apparent then. They officially called-in their Bank Overdraft, issuing a seven-day notice to that effect, referring unconvincingly to a review of trading circumstances in the ongoing deep Recession. However, they had used their Board of Directors position to secretly instruct the company’s Auditors and their collaborating in-house Accountant to prepare an Insolvency Statement for the incoming Receivers whom they would nominate without reference to fellow Directors. Without access to any business funds, the Directors would not be able to mount a defence, nor prosecute a legal case for any breaches of a promise under Promissory Estoppel. At the same time, they could not avail of the alternative channel that exists today, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Almost overnight, Joseph witnessed how all his former Advisors and Consultants had flocked to the Bank’s side, who were now in control of all his company assets that fed the Receivers money pot. To Joseph, this was nothing short of old-time Property Confiscation by another name, using a High Court regulated Receivership that lacked affordable defence funds to counter-balance any abuse of the process. The Court had to rely on the trusted word of a reputable Receiver. At the same time, the Directors remained voiceless as they watched their assets being confiscated and sold off at firesale prices to whomsoever they thought worthy. In Joseph’s estimation, they showed little comprehension of the strategic value of the retail assets suddenly arriving under their control but also discovered other highly questionable practices in the disposal of those properties. He noted how so many of the recipients of those discounted assets had been competitors a week before. He was finally to appreciate that trust had never, in reality, existed between the Bank and the company, so his position was hopeless from the start.

Golden Circle Rules                       

Joseph had responded to an intriguing request sent on handwritten privately-headed notepaper and, with lingering trepidation, agreed that he and his pregnant wife would meet up with the sender at his specified upmarket Dublin hotel in Ballsbridge. It was sent by his funding Banker and fellow Director, who just a month prior had dispatched a Receiver to foreclose on all of Joseph’s business assets, including his Retail Chain of shops, stores and Property portfolio, ostensibly to repay the Bank’s Debt. The Receivership had been all over the news during that month. The media highlighted the social cost of the 150 jobs lost in that Receivership, the scale the Bank’s losses, the stated extensive losses the Revenue would carry and that of Trade Creditors too. Their audience believed those to be unchallengeable facts. Joseph had hotly disputed those facts with Bank, Auditors, Financial Advisors and Receivers but, with no voice and no money to defend himself, went unheard. They asked that he leave his company that day, his assistance no longer required. Discreet announcements and media placements followed, painting the Owner-Directors as primarily responsible for mismanaging the company, although the Banking Director did blame himself for believing in Owners dream! There were two sayings with which Joseph would come to identify closely: ‘A lie will have travelled around the world before the truth has got its boots on’ and ‘A lie told often enough will become the truth and make the truth look like an imposter.’ When trust dies, truth follows, and corruption does not lag far behind. In May 2010 TASC produced a report Mapping the Golden Circle in Ireland, confirming the existence of a Golden Circle in Irish Business: “In Ireland as elsewhere, sudden economic decline combined with the dramatic collapse of the banking system has focused attention on ‘a golden circle’, a small number of board directors (and others), operating at the highly lucrative apex of Irish business. A strong perception existed well before the present economic crisis that Ireland was run by a small pool of well-connected individuals sitting on the boards of Ireland’s top companies.” Indeed, all eight Irish Tribunal scandals, including Moriarity Tribunal of 2000, were explored thoroughly in Political Corruption in Ireland 1922-2010: A Crooked Harp, a scholarly book by Elaine Byrne in 2012, which original archival research producing evidence to claim: “This systematic evasion went on for two decades, unhindered by the Central Bank, the Revenue Commissioners, company law regulators and prosecuting authorities.” Insideor outside the Golden Circle, where do you stand, was the unasked question that sprang into Joseph’s worried mind? Why? Everything was starting to make sense now. In that decade of the mid-1980s, the Banks and people of wealth appeared to dictate life on the island.

The Bank recovered their much-publicised debt in full as the Receivership evolved, without fanfare, into a Liquidation; the records died with it. The estimated £1 million Revenue debt used to compute Insolvency in the first instance that obtained Court approval for Receivership never factually materialised, as Joseph knew it wouldn’t and were it emerged merely unsupported ‘estimates’ from decades earlier. People of Joseph’s generation had lived until 2008 by the golden mantra and catch cry: Is it Bankable? That how new ideas for startup and expansion were evaluated and generally accepted until then. People took the word of the Banks as gospel then, borrowers and depositors trusted Bank CEOs like gurus, and Receivers who implemented the law of the land for them were the untouchables. They were empowered to tell the story that Banks, as victors, wanted to share with an unquestioning media. That unconditional trust in that Banking World died that year. To make their story stick on Joseph, however, the Bank went further. It commissioned an “independent” IPC report that purported to interview the Owner-Directors, tell the inside story of failure. It promptly concluded that the blame lay squarely at the Management’s feet. Joseph was shocked to read it when he learned that it was the Bank themselves who had authored it, just had paid handsomely for an ‘independent’ signature. The media were never to know the truth. Receivers, Banks, Solicitors and Accountants were all on the same side at that time, fed from the same pot of money, often a trough filled by the spoils of Receiverships. It was a tool used and often openly misused in unscrupulous hands to confiscate assets for subsequent firesale under the law. Owners were dispensable people and thoughtlessly discarded without any social safety net or social conscience on the scrap heap of a society firmly fixed under the thumb of Banks with profit and not people on their minds.

Threading on Dreams   

Upon arrival at their meeting point, he saw his Banker seated near the hotel’s public concourse; his body language indicated that the message to be delivered was not going to be a friendly one. Joseph was to learn that the hotel was the meeting place of choice for the rich and powerful of the closed-circuit Corporate World, then known as the Golden Circle that would create the Celtic Tiger a decade later; his worst fears gripped him. The personal touch implied by the note had been misleading; instead, the atmosphere was chilly, the folksy humour and charm that always characterised their Banker Director, Eugene M. O’Carthy, had vanished. It was all about formalities now. Joseph felt surrounded by an unfriendly force that he did not recognise, that it put him on red alert. He had retained faint hopes until that moment that Receivership would at least avoid a Liquidation, but those hopes were about to be dashed. Eugene got down to the business in hand right away and, without further adue, confided in his Co-Directors that there would be nothing left for Joseph to salvage from the embers following the Retail and Property firesale of his company assets. All proceeds would have to go to repaying the Bank’s debt but, crucially, he slowly adding for emphasis, that he expected there would still be a significant shortfall. It was turning into a horror show.

Joseph tried to come to grips with the impact of these new revelations on their lives. All their business assets would be sold off, at a price far short of anticipated book values, it was apparent, to repay their outstanding Bank debt soonest. That scenario could only mean that they were about to lose overnight their Directorships, jobs, incomes and careers too, and all in the middle of 1980s Recession. But worse, the Bank was also considering calling-in his Personal Guarantee to meet a projected substantial shortfall, thus placing their home and any personal assets at peril, perhaps triggering Personal Bankruptcy. There was no mention of the fact that Eugene had broken his solemn promise of a weeks before the Receivership, notably when they signed-off papers to secure the Banks medium-term backing based on same records. On that sign-off, he swore he would guarantee an adequate time for their Acquisition and Retail Development investments to show their true potential, honour all his commitments. His word was his bond, even if unequal, David and Goliath. It had past the point of mentioning that it was Eugene and his Bank who wanted their business banking most; were keenest to lend all the money that his company might require- more than any other funders that Joseph had already sourced. What had happened almost overnight to trigger such a dramatic change, or was it always their plan?

Joseph recalled again how he had not heeded the warning about grey Banks during contract closure, that he failed to appreciate the grave danger then. That day, Eugene did not want to hear about how he had ‘extracted’ additional Directorship and corporate powers on the night of Acquisition with a bank draft in hand and everyone in the room ready to close the deal, generating a wave of distrust from which their relationship never recovered. Or why, if he was so worried about the Recession, were those extracted powers used to block the disposal of surplus property for which Joseph has secured contracts of sale to reduce his company debt, fuelling more profound distrust? Nor hear about reneging on his Acquisition agreement to facilitate another Bank in assuming a substantial part of their existing debt, wanting to remain their sole Banker? Why did he block £300,000 in new funds that Joseph had sourced internationally and so do without notifying his fellow Directors outside his powers? Why promise to back the Retail Venture through thick and thin instead renege without proper explanation? Instead, Joseph only heard the empty word ‘sorry’ leave Eugene’s lips.

He was threading on his dreams. The words of Tony Ryan rang in his ears who, after the collapse of GPA’s planned IPO with his dreams, quoted WB Yeats to a hostile Press: “I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” Joseph felt sure he did not see him, hear him and that anything he might have to say did not matter; he felt sure something else entirely was afoot. They both knew that in reality, Joseph was powerless against the Bank’s combined forces, that they had taken his voice too. After all, they held all the aces and knew just how to use them. For the first time, he saw in Eugene’s humourless face a look that shocked him, an unspoken: ‘This is how the world works, live with it!’ Joseph struggled hard to take in that new crazy reality of that world. Observing his shocked reaction with some growing concern, as he worked to come to grips with what was happening to him, Eugene spoke once more, saying: “It would be most advisable I should think, to keep quiet media-wise, for all our sake; yes, that would be a big help to the Bank in making that Personal Guarantee decision”. He made firm eye contact to ensure he did not miss its importance. Eugene had just turned Joseph’s world upside down and left him without a way out or up. Yes! It immediately struck him that this was why his former Advisors had suggested personal Bankruptcy as a way out. Joseph would never do that, so this was their alternative. But! They were going to do their deed, ethical or not.

With message delivered, it was time for Eugene to say goodbye, and in a flash, he was gone, the pair never to meet again. Their years of intense engagement, partnership and shared vision were over, perhaps never existed. He had many crucial questions to ask about the conduct of the Receivership that he had observed at close quarters, but Bank and Receivers had simply deflected them away to be left unanswered. These were all briskly brushed aside, told he would be best to route those through his lawyer and the Bank’s lawyers will answer them, paid of course from the proceeds of Joseph’s business assets, with any shortfall further funded, if required, by Joseph’s Personal Guarantee! He knew Joseph was left with no money to afford the calibre of lawyer he once had, not personally now. And as a Banker, he had the power to allocate rich legal pickings from other Receiverships to discourage would-be supporters anyway. Now redundant, in Receivership, under veiled threat of Bankruptcy and even danger of Homelessness, Joseph had neither voice to be heard nor money to defend himself. He and his wife had lost their jobs, had no income to retain lawyers, and as an Owner-Director had limited entitlement to Social Welfare like most unemployed business Owners.

The Emergent Grey Banks

Joseph looked around at the emerging Ireland of that 1980s decade. Apple and Microsoft, less than a decade old at that time, had already excited an entire generation worldwide with their phenomenal Desktop computer creation in full colour, bearing the headline-grabbing promise of a paperless office, and fuelled by the inbound Desktop Publishing era. Motorola had started an emerging new craze with the world’s first mobile phone, which was just beginning to catch on in Europe. Amazon was a whole decade away. Social Media was as yet a dream. Jeffery Archer was pop Author of the day since publishing his red hot book that caught the mood of people everywhere, his Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less (1975) novel, that drove him on an elevated pedestal. He would go on to deliver a body of work consisting of over 34 published titles that would sell over 275 million copies around the world, be published in 97 countries and more than 33 languages. Charlie Haughey, the Great Houdini of Irish Politics, was at an in-between point of attaining the high office of Taoiseach three times in that decade. Bank Interest rates had scaled the impossible heights of 18% at peak with Mortgage rates not far behind, crippling families and businesses alike. Emigration was rampant in Ireland. The Prophet of Doom presenter, Bob Beckman, had just grabbed the world’s attention with his doom-laden book, The Downwave: Surviving the Second Great Depression (1983), missing the mark by a decade or two perhaps. At home, Irish Banks got caught in the full headlights of the furore surrounding the Cayman Islands’ offshore banking practices for wealthy Irish clients. A new era of boom and bust was about to be seeded in Ireland.

The Tribunals would reveal the many shocking details of those times which, unsuspectingly, were to be a forewarning of much that would ultimately culminate in the Financial Crash of the decade-old Celtic Tiger in 2008. During that decade too, R.T. Naylor, Economic Consultant to United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, wrote an eye-popping book exposing for the first time the existence of a ball of so-called hot money that was rolling around the globe. He revealed how hot capital, described as Peek-a-boo Money, was being moved by tax evaders and tax avoiders alike through shell companies, numbered accounts, phoney charities and religious foundations; always seeking anonymity and political refuge. It was Naylor who was the first to expose the fact that the mushrooming global Debt Crisis and the Hot Money underbelly were essentially two sides of the same unsavoury coin. He described it as the preserve of the Elites and off-grid Operations, carried out with the enabling support of Grey Banks and prestigious highly paid smart specialists in tax avoidance through implementing tax workarounds. Naylor called for Country Debt write-offs, something accomplished decades later through the aid of Bono’s Drop the Debt campaign. It would all end in tears, in Irish National Bankruptcy, a painful decade of Austerity for his people that followed and culminate in a debt burden for generations after that. The Moriarty Tribunal of 2000 revealed Grey Bankers. They gave testimony on Cayman Island tax haven exposures and their involvements therin: “In the 1970’s a gigantic game was being played between Civil Servants and tax firms around the very thin line between tax evasion and avoidance. This type of activity was rife. He said the experts would find a loophole and the Revenue would close it down.” That was the norm in the 1970s and 80s. Joseph felt trapped right in the middle of one significant gameplay, a big game conducted far above his head. Yes! But he had also witnessed the sowing of the seeds of his country’s economic destruction that would manifest itself for all to see decades later, in 2008. His goal was to find a way to enable Voice of the Voiceless to be heard and heeded, and that was where he felt sure he still had a meaningful role to play. He felt alone against the crowd, but somehow he still held a trump card.