Irish property investigation widens to more solicitors firms

The police investigation into multi-million euro property dealings involving Irish law firms, which led to the shutdown of two solicitors in the past two weeks, has now widened to include as many as three more firms, according to a report in Thursday's Irish Independent. One prominent solicitor has been admitted to a psychiatric institution and another has reportedly absconded, as banks and private investors try to discover how much they have lost in property funds aimed at private investors. Banks have been giving solicitors millions in loans secured by properties already mortgaged several times and solicitors have been using clients accounts to fund property deals.

Suspect property dealings have not been confined to Ireland. Dutch private investors are licking their wounds after being swindled for millions in deals involving special property investment vehicles, or CVs. In one case. private investors ploughed tens of millions of euros into resort projects in Dubai that did not exist, while the fund managers have reportedly disappeared. In another, members of the public were promised high returns in advertisements seeking investments for the development of a tourist resort in Turkey. The fund managers in this case have also disappeared, leaving behind little more than an empty postal address in a well-to-do district of Amsterdam.