FORMER PROPERTY DEVELOPER Sean Dunne has told a US court that he only earns €200 a month and is having ‘great difficulty’ finding work due to his bankruptcy. 

Dunne signed an affidavit in the US District Court in Connecticut to oppose a motion to hold him in contempt for not paying legal costs as ordered by the court. 

“Currently, I have no significant current or future income available to me, except for my current income from Amrakbo, the company I am currently employed with, which has been reduced to €200 per month (about $219) since the beginning of January 2019,” Dunne said in an affidavit dated 3 October 2019.

As a result of this monthly income, Dunne said he is unable to pay the €7000 per month as set out in a Bankruptcy Payment Order issued by the Courts of Ireland in October last year. 

Dunne also said he’s not in a position to contribute to the cost of looking after his family. 

He has allegedly not acquired any property since his bankruptcy and his income has been “almost entirely expended on legal fees” for the past five years.

Dunne is currently involved in bankruptcy proceedings in Connecticut and Ireland and, as a result, he says he has been “financially unable” to pay legal bills worth $9,330 (€8,409) to a Trustee in legal case. 

He had previously been ordered to pay this sum by 7 June this year but was granted an extension later that month to comply with this order. 

“At the moment, I am unable to comply and pay for the Order,” Dunne said in the declaration. 

Earlier this year, a US jury made a multi-million euro award to a bankruptcy trustee of Dunne.

This case found that Dunne engaged in “intentionally fraudulent” transfers of money and assets to his estranged wife. 

Dunne declared bankruptcy 2013 in Ireland and in Connecticut in the US. His Irish bankruptcy was extended by 12 years by the High Court in 2018.