The Rodolphus Allen Family Private Trust is a group, which purports to be a property trust, operating in Ireland. While supporters of the group's methods have stated that it can exploit loopholes in mortgage documents to prevent the takeover of at-risk properties from bank repossession, a number of politicians, financial advisors and legal commentators have warned that the group's purpose is to scam investors and embezzle funds while claiming to place the property into a non-existent 'trust'.[1] The group was set up by Charles Allen, a Kilkenny based landscape gardener.[2][3][4] It is neither registered as a company nor as a charity in the Republic of Ireland or in any way registered with any financial regulatory body.

The group's operations have been labelled as "legal nonsense" in the High Court, as a "massive fraud and a scam" in Dáil Éireann, as having the "hallmarks of scam" by a senator in Seanad Éireann, and as "predatory behaviour on vulnerable debtors" by the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation.[5][6]

History

The first mention of the 'trust' in the media was in July 2013 when the Irish Examiner reported that a number of indebted individuals had been pledging certain assets to this trust.[7] The group appears to have been set up by the Kilkenny-based landscape gardener Charles Allen.[2]

The group became the subject of further headlines during the repossession of Kennycourt Stud Farm in Brannockstown, County Kildare, Ireland. The farm was due to be sold by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, after its owner's inability to pay an outstanding loan of €814,000.[8] A member/supporter of the group stated that the "owner", Eugene McDermott, had signed over his property to the trust and was now a "tenant" of the trust.[9]

In early September 2013, a notary public, previously employed by the group, ceased offering notarising services to the group.[10]

By late September 2013, High Court judge Sean Ryan had issued a warrant for the arrest of Charles Allen for "contempt of court orders".[11] Allen was later arrested,[4] and subsequently released after giving an undertaking "not to interfere with or trespass on" specific lands in County Kildare which were subject to receivership.[12] A similar bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Ben Gilroy.[11] Gilroy was given a suspended sentence after being found in contempt.[13]

As of late 2013, the Revenue Commissioners were reportedly "examining the operations" of the group,[14][15] and a member of Seanad Éireann had reported it to the Gardaí.[16]

As of 2015, the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation were continuing to warn mortgage holders of "predatory behaviour" by the organisation, while Allen reportedly could "not give any case numbers" for any repossession cases reputedly won by the group.[1]

The legal status of the group has been called into question by a number of legal experts, financial advisers and politicians, being associated by some with "freeman on the land" ideologies.[1][17]

Karl Deeter, a financial analyst with Irish Mortgage Brokers and Advisors, after attending a presentation given by the group on 9 August 2013, said that he would be advising his clients to avoid the group. He stated: "the big concern, and the first thing on my list is that they won't disclose how it works - the bit where the banks can't go after you and they 'remove the debt'". He also criticised the lack of legal training of the individuals giving the presentation.[18] In another article, entitled "Let the Bullshit Begin: The Document behind the Kilkenny trust", Deeter examined a trust document used by the group, dismissing it as a "copy and paste job", noting the "lack of reference to any particular law (many documents with a legal foundation state the referenced legislation on them), and diminished powers of the trustee".[19]

Bill Holohan, a solicitor, stated the trust was "unlikely to work" in preventing repossession, claiming the trust document to be a "glorious mix of some American-style language, with some European-style language. To be honest, it smacks of a cut-and-paste job from a combination of sources". There was no mention of how to take property out of the trust in the document.[2]

A 2013 article in The Irish Examiner stated that "despite its growing popularity, there is no general understanding of how the trust can trump commitments borrowers have made in their loan agreements".[20]

A 2018 paper, published by the Center for Expertise and Training on Religious Fundamentalism and Radicalization in Canada, described the organisation as a "pseudolaw-based entity" that advocated pseudolegal concepts such as the "strawman theory".[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Costello, Norma (15 August 2015). "Trust 'preying'on home owners". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Weston, Charlie (July 2013). "Trust Helping Borrowers Unlikely to Work". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  3. ↑ "Inistioge man behind controversial trust". Kilkenny People. 11 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 Ryan, Conor Ryan and Vincent (26 November 2013). "Leader of mysterious trust, Charles Allen Snr, arrested". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Healy, Tim (12 November 2013). "Judge calls claims of activist in €51.4m case 'nonsense'". independent.ie. Independent News & Media.
  6. ↑ Ryan, Conor Ryan and Vincent (20 July 2013). "Senator: Trust has 'hallmarks of scam'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Ryan, Conor; Vincent Ryan (19 July 2013). "Debtors protect assets in private trust". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Weller, Vicki (3 September 2013). "Angry Scuffle at Stud Farm Protest". Kildare Nationalist. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  9. ↑ Rodgers, Stephen (29 August 2013). "'Middle Ireland Fights Back'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Notary officer cuts ties with contentious property trust". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  11. 1 2 O'Faolain, Aodhan; Managh, Ray (28 September 2013). "Judge orders arrest of man behind €2bn assets trust". independent.ie. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Ó Faoláin, Aodhán (27 November 2013). "Head of controversial private trust agrees not to trespass on Kildare land". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Activist given suspended sentence for contempt of court orders". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Mooney, John (29 September 2013). "Revenue to probe Allen's 'land trust'". thetimes.co.uk. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Ryan, Conor (14 October 2013). "Broken Trust for Rodolphus Allen". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Seanad debates - Tuesday, 26 November 2013 - Order of Business". kildarestreet.com. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2022. the notorious Rodolphus Allen trust [..is..] a scam and I encouraged people not to get involved. I reported it to the Garda
  17. ↑ O'Connell, Hugh (27 November 2013). "'Desperate people are being sucked into this': Controversial property trust criticised". thejournal.ie. Journal Media Ltd. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Deeter, Karl (9 August 2013). "The Kilkenny Trust that Makes Mortgages Disappear". Irish Mortgage Brokers. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Deeter, Karl (9 August 2013). "Let the Bullshit Begin: The Document behind the Kilkenny trust". Irish Mortgage Brokers. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  20. ↑ Ryan, Conor Ryan and Vincent (19 July 2013). "Debtors protect assets in private trust". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Netolitzky, Donald J. (24 May 2018). A Pathogen Astride the Minds of Men: The Epidemiological History of Pseudolaw. Sovereign Citizens in Canada symposium. CEFIR. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3177472. SSRN 3177472. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
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