Developer “freaked straight away” when he realised man knew nothing about project, trial told

The trial of a former psychic charged with money laundering has heard a developer “freaked straight away” when he realised a man who he thought was to provide him with a bridging loan knew nothing about the project.

Simon Gold (54) with an address of Augharan, Aughavas, Co. Leitrim, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 22 charges including money laundering, theft, deception and control of false instruments on dates between January 1, 2010 and October 22, 2012.

The trial has heard that Mr Gold accepted he had used the names Simon Gold, Simon Gould, Simon Magnier and Niall O'Donoghue. The trial has also heard Mr Gold acknowledged he is responsible for an Ulster Bank account in the name of Anglo Irish Global Ltd.

On the eighth day of evidence before the jury, Frank Gleeson told Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that he was a developer living outside Athy and that in 2008 he became involved in construction in Portugal.

Mr Gleeson said he bought a site in Portugal and raised €1 million from a Portuguese bank to start building ten apartments, with the intention being to raise further funds by selling them and then building more apartments. He said he did not sell any and the bank started looking for repayments.

He said he began to look for private financing and reached an agreement with Leicester Finance that they would provide £3 million in exchange for a 10% deposit. He said he did not have the £300,000 and began to search for further financing.

Mr Gleeson said he had a conversation with Simon Gold, who he described as having a “very middle class English accent”, and Mr Gold said he could secure the funding for a bridging loan provided he pay a deposit of £30,000 up front.

He said his wife transferred £10,000 from their savings account and his business partners transferred £20,000 as well to Belgravia Consultants UK Ltd. He said that once the money was transferred, Mr Gold told him he had to meet with a man named Jason Pienaar in London.

He said it was his understanding at the time that Mr Pienaar was a high net worth individual who invested in projects. He said that Mr Gold told him that Mr Pienaar was married to the daughter of a multi-millionaire and that he had contact with a lot of cash funds.

Mr Gleeson said he “freaked straight away” when he met Mr Pienaar, who he said knew nothing about the project and wanted him to make an offer on a “huge house”. He said he felt like it was “a disaster” and wanted to back out of it.

He said he later got a phone call from Mr Pienaar telling him that the money was ready and that he needed to sign documents to authorise Mr Gold to transfer the £30,000 to him. He said he told Mr Pienaar he was not willing to do that.

Mr Gleeson said he called Mr Gold and told him that under no circumstances should he transfer the money. He said Mr Gold told him that he had already made the transfer.

He said he did some “sleuthing” after being told that Mr Gold's real name was Niall O'Donoghue and discovered an address of his at Wiggers Cross, Co Meath. He said he went to the house and spoke to a woman over an intercom who he told to inform Mr Gold of his presence.

Mr Gleeson said he first received a phone call from a man purporting to be Mr Gold, but that he could tell it was not in fact him. He said he then received a phone call from Mr Gold who hung up after he refused to stop calling him Niall.

He said the following day he received another phone call from Mr Gold who said he was going to pay him back £10,000 out of his own pocket. He said Mr Gold claimed that Mr Pienaar had run off with the money.

Mr Gleeson said he never got the remaining £20,000 back. He said he never met Mr Gold in person, but that they had arranged to meet on several occasions and Mr Gold failed to show up.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending, put it to Mr Gleeson that he had said in his statement to gardaí that Mr Gold has a “South Dublin accent”. Mr Gleeson replied that he thought the Dublin 4 accent was very like a middle class English accent.

The trial continues today (Wednesday) before Judge Nolan and a jury.