Potential for Corruption in NAMA

Cody Pomeray

Interesting contribution in the Seanad by Sen. Lorraine Higgins yesterday evening at the adjournment stage. A full transcript is available here
http://eurozoneous.blogspot.ie/2013/06/slack-employee-contracts-catching-up.html

I have clipped out the names of one individual whom she mentioned, because that man hasn't come before the courts nor any public inquiry, beyond being named in the Seanad.

The biggest concern with NAMA should not be with its conceptual form at all, rather with the potential there exists for abuse and corruption.

Senator Higgins mentioned Enda Farrell, whom some people will remember as the NAMA employee who bought a house from a NAMA developer.
It had also been alleged that Farrell sent 15 NAMA emails to a property development firm. That allegation went to the Commercial Court but doesn't seem to have progressed. Yesterday, Senator Higgins alleged that the recipient of those emails also hired Enda Farrell as an employee.

Enda Farrell says he did nothing wrong. I'm not saying he did anything wrong. I'm just repeating what Senator Higgins said in the Seanad. A report into Farrell's behaviour at NAMA, in respect of his house purchase, is also here:
http://namawinelake.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/namaendafarrellreport.pdf

The Code of Practice for NAMA officers is available here.

Although the code sets out best practice for these senior employees, it appears largely non-enforceable. If any aspects of it are enforceable, the Government are not showing any particular motivation in activating them in respect of former employees. Neither have NAMA/ the NTMA taken any other case against a former employee in respect of a breach of contract, and no proceedings were undertaken by the DPP.

I know people in very ordinary part time jobs, who are subject to non compete clauses in their contracts. It is absolutely bizarre that there seems to be no such provision, as a matter of course, in senior NTMA/ NAMA employee contracts, which would exclude those individuals from working with NAMA competitors.

Although I am sure most officers and employees of NAMA are some of the most upstanding people in the property business, and have no interest in committing any offence nor breach of contract, this agency is a real estate behemoth.

It is genuinely worrying that this Government doesn't seem to have a handle on the capacity for corruption in NAMA.

nesf

On naming people, it is ok to repeat what a politician said under privilege, so long as it is clear that you are doing exactly that and not accusing someone of doing something or making out that it's fact. That is well established in the media. What is not ok is further speculation on your or anyone else's part as to that person's possible actions. Commenting on the actions claimed by the politician under privilege on the other hand is fine. There's a fine line here and we'd have to police it very carefully.


On a non-compete clause. Well the issue is it'd have to rule out any job related to the purchase or sale of property. This would encompass for some employees any alternative job relevant to their qualifications and experience. This would make hiring for some roles near impossible.

I agree that the revolving door there at present is bull**** though.

Cody Pomeray

nesf wrote: »

On naming people, it is ok to repeat what a politician said under privilege, so long as it is clear that you are doing exactly that and not accusing someone of doing something or making out that it's fact.

Of course, and indeed I have no problem in criticizing Lorraine Higgins for having named the second individual in the Seanad. His name is now a matter of public record. I don't think it was appropriate but under the circumstances, she felt "bullied" by him in a telephone call. No doubt the second individual would dispute that.

I am not interested in attacking anyone's character, the main issue clearly lies with how NAMA is governed.

There are part time students working in small technology companies who are subject to non compete clauses. Yet for one of the biggest property portfolios in the world, it is deemed "inappropriate" and would be unduly burdensome on NAMA employees.

All I am asking is why the Government, the NTMA, or NAMA management have not sought non compete clauses for their staff. There are at least two senior staff who have left NAMA and gone to work for property companies, one of whom sent 15 NAMA emails to that property company prior to his exit.

I think the public deserve to know that its extensive resources are safe from the potential for internal corruption.

nesf wrote: »

On a non-compete clause. Well the issue is it'd have to rule out any job related to the purchase or sale of property. This would encompass for some employees any alternative job relevant to their qualifications and experience. This would make hiring for some roles near impossible.

No, the High Court has indicated that a CNC may be written that allows the former employee to work in the construction industry, but limits the type of company he can work for.

Therefore, take someone who went to work in the UK like Senator Higgins mentioned. If a CNC were in place, he would have been perfectly entitled to go and work in the UK. But he wouldn't have been allowed go and work in a property that was seeking to expand its Irish interests and therefore potentially seeking NAMA properties. To be clear, these are very senior ranking officers, I'm not talking about using non compete clauses for every single employee.

nesf

The issue is if we had true firewalls between say rural one-off-housing experts and urban apartment development experts you could argue for non-competes because skills, contacts and knowledge wouldn't be transferable. The thing is they are. About the only division is between commercial and residential property, perhaps there could have been non compete clauses there though I suspect some individuals are handling both sides of that.

It's not like say a C++ programmer with a lot of experience, they can move from one company in area A of computing to another company in an unrelated area and satisfy a reasonable non-compete clause.

nesf

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

No, the High Court has indicated that a CNC may be written that allows the former employee to work in the construction industry, but limits the type of company he can work for.

Therefore, take someone who went to work in the UK like Senator Higgins mentioned. If a CNC were in place, he would have been perfectly entitled to go and work in the UK. But he wouldn't have been allowed go and work in a property that was seeking to expand its Irish interests and therefore potentially seeking NAMA properties. To be clear, these are very senior ranking officers, I'm not talking about using non compete clauses for every single employee.

Ah ok, that sounds more reasonable.

realitykeeper

I read in the indo yesterday that the government is to create a 140K job for someone to forgive the debt they landed us with.

I can see it now. A buddy of Enda lives it up during the celtic tiger, buys a massive mansion, can`t pay it off - suddenly finds himself with a nice plump 140k job which allows him to forgive himself his debt.

I would not be at all surprised if this guy becomes a magnet for every political cronie in the country. No doubt the politicians relatives will be the first (and probably the last) to be forgiven.

Agueroooo

If the breaking news is to be believed about a FF TD having ' information that will rock NAMA' then Sn Lorraine Higgins was spot on in June.

so is the people responsible to help clean up the corruption/mess corrupt themselves?

Dob74

NAMA it's self was set up to stop house prices from dropping and push the market value up.
Surely this is illegal in competition law.
NAMA has always been a bail out for banks, developers and there buddies.

To find some official acted in a corrupt way is not exactly shocking.

renegademaster

if i hear "oh sure he or she didn't actually do anything wrong" one more fcuking time I will explode!! watch how quick you or i would be lifted for breaking the tiniest of laws yet these corrupt ba$tard$ "never do anything wrong"??????

renegademaster

realitykeeper wrote: »

I read in the indo yesterday that the government is to create a 140K job for someone to forgive the debt they landed us with.

I can see it now. A buddy of Enda lives it up during the celtic tiger, buys a massive mansion, can`t pay it off - suddenly finds himself with a nice plump 140k job which allows him to forgive himself his debt.

I would not be at all surprised if this guy becomes a magnet for every political cronie in the country. No doubt the politicians relatives will be the first (and probably the last) to be forgiven.

we allow all of this!!!! shame on us

hfallada

Dob74 wrote: »

NAMA has always been a bail out for banks, developers and there buddies.

To find some official acted in a corrupt way is not exactly shocking.

How has Nama been a bailout for developers when it's repossing family homes. Going to foreign courts to gain control of assets. Developers have lost their entire portholio.

Yes we as the tax payer own the banks. But our investment maybe profitable. As is the case with BOI

dlouth15

hfallada wrote: »

How has Nama been a bailout for developers when it's repossing family homes. Going to foreign courts to gain control of assets. Developers have lost their entire portholio.

Yes we as the tax payer own the banks. But our investment maybe profitable. As is the case with BOI

These are the exceptional high-profile cases you read about in the media of some developers who did not cooperate with NAMA and tried to hide assets abroad.

However what you have to ask yourself is how the open market would have treated the bulk of developers in the absence of NAMA. Would the open market be maintaining loans on developments for which there is little demand on the underlying developments? Would the open market be paying salaries to developers to cooperate with them?

Dob74

hfallada wrote: »

How has Nama been a bailout for developers when it's repossing family homes. Going to foreign courts to gain control of assets. Developers have lost their entire portholio.

Yes we as the tax payer own the banks. But our investment maybe profitable. As is the case with BOI

Taxpayer only made a profit on BOI because it pumped money into all the other banks pushing the price of there assets up. The 30 billion doled out to anglo kept the other banks going. Alan Aherne admitted that he does not except to get the money back.

What developer has lost there family home? The 18 month UK piss up has worked out nicely for the good and the great. Why shouldn't developers lose their portfolio if they can't pay back there money. Don't see any of them being sent to a debtor's prison. That only for not paying your TV linence.

20Cent

Hearing a racketeering suit against NAMA was filed today in NYC.

johnnyskeleton

NAMA's whole purpose is corruption, to cover the banking debts of a few well connected developers, who happened to support the FF party.

They are currently sitting on thousands of sellable properties to artificially prop up prices. Again, for the benefit of their developers at the expense of anyone who wants to buy a house.

They pay the same bankrupt developers a 6 figure sum each year to continue not developing houses.

They pay their own staff massive salaries, presumably so that they can sleep at night working in such an odious environment.

So corruption in Nama is more of a dog bites man story. Show me something good or honest NAMA has done and then we'll talk.

gaius c

A major property developer has claimed that a former senior Nama official told him he could provide him with confidential information up to and including the minutes of Nama board meetings to assist his business in its dealings with Nama.

The extraordinary claim is contained in a contemporaneous note which the businessman sent to a number of his business associates following a meeting in which the former Nama official is alleged to have offered to help them "behind the scenes".

There is more...

jmayo

Between this, the raiding of charitable funds for executive salary top ups and now the slush fund over at Irish Water, I often wonder would we have been better if this country had defaulted and once and for all the ordinary people rid themselves of the shysters and leeches.

As it is, it is just different day same old story.

gaius c

Ex-Nama exec targets Dunne's former assets - RONALD QUINLAN -> http://www.independent.ie/business/exnama-exec-targets-dunnes-former-assets-29889099.html

A former senior Nama executive who had direct responsibility for managing Sean Dunne's business with the agency has revealed that he is now considering buying up the assets of the one-time 'Baron of Ballsbridge' and other Nama developers.
Kevin Nowlan said his property investment fund Hibernia REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) had already been looking at buildings which had been owned by Mr Dunne in Ballsbridge and Dublin's docklands, as well as a loan book with a face value of €300m built up by developer Sean Reilly, which comprises prime office blocks in Dublin 2 and Dublin 4.

However, the former Nama portfolio manager insisted his previous employment with the State's 'bad bank' did not give him a competitive advantage.

there is more