Carval’s legal pursuit of retired restaurateur and auctioneer Peter White and his family took a dramatic turn this week with allegations that the businessman and his wife Alicia schemed to put over €2 million in assets beyond the reach of the private equity giant.

The claims of “wholesale” asset dissipation incorporates exclusive London real estate in Knightsbridge, offshore bank accounts, a Davy investment fund and an alleged six figure pay-out on behalf of the couple’s son Trevor White, the well-known museum owner and former magazine publisher.

The alleged scheme was described in the High Court as a “deliberate and calculated attempt” to frustrate judgment orders in the sum of €3.9 million made against the Whites and their investment vehicles Dublin Land Securities and Blue Nile Holdings from last July. 

The motion is due to be heard in full next month but in the meantime, a temporary order freezing Peter White’s assets was granted to Feniton Property Finance, an Irish offshoot of Carval, by Justice Michael Quinn following an urgent application before the vacation sittings of the High Court on Monday.

The court heard the claim of asset dissipation is not accepted by Peter White, the 78-year-old businessman who was in attendance for the fund’s latest legal strike.

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Wearing a dark suit and tie, Peter White sat in the courtroom holding a pen and paper. A well known figure in Irish business circles, White used to head up White’s Auctioneers and the once renowned French restaurant, White’s on the Green, currently home to Shanahan’s steakhouse. He has not, as yet, filed an affidavit responding to the details of the vulture fund’s claims. 

Jarlath Ryan, barrister for the businessman’s wife Alicia, told the court his client was ill and she was neither objecting nor consenting to any order made against her. This was accepted by the judge who made no order against her in the circumstances.

Senior counsel Rossa Fanning, acting for Feniton, flagged to the court that the fund would also be seeking a statement of affairs from the couple outlining their means and an order lifting a stay on the judgment order of July 19. While it was not a priority, he said the Carval subsidiary might also look to cross examine Peter White.

So how did the Whites, a respected Dublin business family, get into this position? The answer is a series of personal and corporate boom time loans made between 2006 and 2008 by Bank of Scotland (Ireland). 

Facilities amounting to €8.4 million were extended to Peter and Alicia White to fund certain investments including the acquisition and refurbishment of Dublin properties at 1 and 16 Wellington Road in Ballsbridge, 1 Heytesbury Lane, and 119 St Stephens Green. 

There were also a series of company borrowings totalling €6,517,500 to the Whites’ property investment vehicle, Dublin Land Securities. Some of the loans went towards financing stakes in international real estate funds in the UK and Germany.

Peter White made bitter accusations of bad faith, overcharging and misleading conduct on behalf of Feniton, allegations denied by the fund.

The then unresolved debts, secured on the properties and in part by guarantees from Peter White, were acquired by Feniton in 2015. Following negotiations, the fund entered into a settlement agreement with the Whites in May 2017 in relation to the various loan facilities.

However, last year, in a series of court actions, Feniton sued members of the family for outstanding debts following an apparent breakdown in that agreement.

In the Commercial Court battle that ensued, Alicia White distanced herself from the nuts and bolts of her husband’s business dealings, describing herself on affidavit as a “stranger to most, if not all of the matters which are the subject of these proceedings”. 

Peter White made bitter accusations of bad faith, overcharging and misleading conduct on behalf of Feniton, allegations denied by the fund.

At the time, much of the focus was on the couple’s son Trevor White, who set up the Little Museum of Dublin and his wife, the food writer Susan Jane White. The couple were bringing up their two young sons in a Georgian red brick at Mount Pleasant Square in Ranelagh, valued at around €1.25 million. They saw it as the family home. On affidavit, Susan Jane White recalled Trevor’s proposal of marriage to her there and the subsequent home births of their two sons. 

Feniton sought vacant possession of the house, describing it in court papers as nothing more than an investment property. The Dublin property was held by a trust called the Mountpleasant Settlement. Trevor and his parents were the trustees. In one set of proceedings, Feniton sought judgment against all three Whites for close to €1.3 million.

In a bid to salvage the situation, Trevor explored a personal insolvency arrangement, a debt solution that would have helped to shield him from his creditors. But he bowed out of the plan last May and instead struck a deal with Feniton that allowed him and his young family to remain in their home. 

As for his parents, judgment was entered against them and their business interests as part of a settlement arrangement last July. Ken Tyrell of PwC was appointed by the fund as receiver over all assets held by their company Dublin Land Securities. 

At the time, the court agreed to place a stay of execution on the judgment orders until December 31, 2019.

Feniton now wants that stay lifted.

“A pattern of disposals”

In the latest court filings, Feniton and Tyrell allege the couple has sought to hide assets rightly due to the fund. It is claimed that from January 1, 2017 to the present, the Whites have engaged in “wholesale dissipation” of various Davy Stockbroker “wealth funds” held by Dublin Land Securities. The Carval subsidiary claims that since the appointment of Tyrell as receiver, it has obtained statements of accounts from the stockbroking firm apparently showing “a pattern of disposals” of significant investments. 

In summary, it is claimed that €270,138 was withdrawn or transferred in five batches, between March 15 and July 22 of this year.  Feniton says these transactions took place in the teeth of demands from its solicitors last January for undertakings from the Whites that they would not dissipate their assets.

In the mix is the alleged sale of shares in Bank of Ireland and Ryanair. Dublin Land Securities is claimed to have instructed the sale of 13,000 shares in the bank on July 15 last, for a value of €60,028, three days before the High Court delivered its judgment. 

The court was told that all of the liquid assets held by Dublin Land Securities, bar €45,000 realised by Feniton, were put beyond the reach of the fund. 

A week later, four days after the court’s ruling, it is alleged a further sum of €55,844 was removed from the portfolio. Separately, a disposal of 4,000 shares in Ryanair for €47,711 was allegedly given the go ahead in April last, while the court proceedings were live.

Older transactions are also the subject of scrutiny. It is alleged that on November 2, 2018, $80,000 cash was withdrawn from the Davy fund and lodged to an AIB account in London. The bank account holder has not yet been established, but Feniton says it has lodged a query with the bank.

Furthermore, it is claimed that in April and May 2017 sums of £69,490 and £64,061 were paid to an account held with AIB private banking in Mayfair in London. Again, Feniton says it has written to the bank looking for details about the account.

The court was told that all of the liquid assets held by Dublin Land Securities, bar €45,000 realised by Feniton, were put beyond the reach of the fund. 

A commercial property in Kensington

But that is not all, according to the claims made to the court. The fund has focused in on a Kensington property in London on Walton Street, an alleged asset of the Whites. On affidavit, Feniton Director Donal O’Sullivan said the fund was “very surprised” to learn that Whites Restaurants, a company controlled by Alicia White according to filings with the Companies Registration Office, allegedly refinanced its entire interest in the commercial property to an entity called Interbridge Financial Group Limited in or around last May.

In the proceedings, Feniton says its solicitors wrote to Interbridge in August and again in September informing the company that the fund had sought undertakings from Peter and Alicia White not to dissipate their assets further. The letter also requested the amount of the sum allegedly owed to Interbridge by Whites Restaurants. Feniton is awaiting a response, the court heard. 

The fund claims it is concerned that the asset, currently on the market with a guide price of £3.15 million, has been put beyond its reach and that it will not enjoy the fruits of the sale.

The Bank of Ireland and AIB accounts

According to O’Sullivan’s affidavit, Dublin Land Securities held two bank accounts, one with Bank of Ireland, the other with AIB. Current account statements allegedly show €365,496 was withdrawn from January 1, including a transfer of €20,000 to Peter White on July 22 and €22,328 to Investec Bank in the Channel Islands last June 28. He says the whereabouts of all of the funds are currently unknown. 

More significantly, a sum of €200,025 is alleged to have been transferred from the company to Kenny Solicitors, who act for Peter White and Dublin Land Securities, on or about July 16 as part of the settlement agreement between Feniton and the Whites. The fund claims this was for the “inappropriate aim” of discharging the personal liabilities of then company director Trevor White, in his wholly separate capacity as trustee of the Mountpleasant Trust. 

The court was told that Kenny Solicitors confirmed receipt of the money to a client account.

Feniton claims there is “no valid or legitimate reason” why Dublin Land Securities would discharge this liability. On August 28, the fund’s solicitors, Maples and Calder, wrote to Trevor White’s lawyers calling on him to reimburse the sum. 

The reply received from Denis McSweeney solicitors on September 4th stated that White, until recently a director of Dublin Land Securities, claimed to have had no knowledge of the source of the money and maintained that he did not issue express instructions in relation to the payment.

“It appears the defendants at all times treated the assets of Dublin Land as personal assets,” O’Sullivan claimed on affidavit. 

The court heard that, in an earlier letter to receiver Ken Tyrell, Trevor White stated: “I confirm that I have not been dissipating any of the company’s assets.” He also stated that his father was “attending to and co-operating with all queries raised”. In a follow up letter to Feniton’s solicitors, White said he did not have knowledge nor did he ever exercise control over the internal operations of Dublin Land Securities. 

A further payment of €12,300 was allegedly transferred from the company to Friel Stafford accountants in April 2019. Jim Stafford acted as a personal insolvency practitioner to Trevor White. Feniton said it received correspondence from Stafford earlier this month describing the payment as a “temporary loan” from Dublin Land Securities to White as he did not have access to immediate cash. This was described by Stafford as being in the best interests of the company and its creditors as it helped to facilitate a settlement of the legal proceedings, the court was told. 

In respect of Dublin Land Securities’ AIB account in Ranelagh, it is alleged the receiver foiled attempts to issue cheques amounting to €32,764 to the Whites on dates in late July, after summary judgment had been handed down against them and their company. 

“It appears the defendants at all times treated the assets of Dublin Land as personal assets,” O’Sullivan claimed on affidavit. 

A brief application

Feniton’s application before the court on Monday lasted only minutes. Justice Michael Quinn granted an order temporarily freezing Peter White’s assets until the case returns to court for a fuller hearing next month. He also ordered White to prepare a statement of affairs. 

However, as mentioned earlier, Justice Quinn refused to make any orders against Alicia White due to her illness.

Gavin Mooney, senior counsel for Peter White, sought to exclude from the freezing order three bank accounts holding funds of around €15,000 to €18,000. 

Mooney told the court “normally people have jobs,” but not his client who he said had a finite supply of money and may require funds in the coming weeks to cover his wife’s medical bills. The court heard she is receiving treatment in London. 

Fanning objected to the move on the basis that the sum of money involved was too high. Justice Quinn agreed. He allowed White €5,000 in living expenses until the next court date. He also granted the businessman liberty to apply to the court to vary that figure if his needs required.