Mayo solicitor facing extradition from Brazil

Mayo solicitor facing extradition from Brazil


CROSSMOLINA native, solicitor Michael Lynn, who fled Ireland in 2007 with debts of €80 million, is set to be extradited from his adopted home of Brazil.
The 44-year-old, who was struck off as a solicitor, fled the country after it emerged that he was involved in a suspected €80 million mortgage fraud. He and his Clare-born wife, Bríd, lived in Portugal and Hungary for a time, before setting up their new life in Brazil, where they were granted permanent residency last year after the birth of their son three years ago.
Lynn was found teaching English in a college in the coastal city of Jaboatao dos Guararapes, where he was said to be earning a modest €150 per week. It is reported that he was also in the process of setting up a real-estate business.
Mr Lynn was arrested at a shopping arcade last Thursday, and is expected to launch a strong legal challenge to his extradition to face up to 30 criminal charges. If an appeal is refused, Lynn could face immediate extradition to Ireland.
As agreements between Ireland and Brazil in relation to extradition procedures are in their infancy, a challenge to Lynn’s extradition could result in a lengthy process.
The youngest of five children born to the late Hugh Gerard Lynn and his wife, Angela, Michael grew up on a 100-acre farm on the edge of Lough Conn and attended Crossmolina Boys’ NS and later at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Gortnor Abbey.
Remembered as a ‘popular’ and ‘bright’ boy, with a passion for Gaelic football and music, Lynn’s dealings with his property empire came to national attention in late 2007.
It was reported that a Dublin law practice had been closed down by the High Court because it had used clients’ monies for personal dealings. It also emerged that Lynn owned 105 properties, a large number of which were in nine different countries, including Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and China, and that he had drawn down loans of over €26 million in 2007 alone.
After his arrest, Lynn was taken to the maximum-security prison in Abreu Lima, in Greater Recife. The total capacity of the prison is 700, but there are around 2,400 inmates being held there, and reports say up to 20 prisoners sleep in large communal cells.
Lynn will be taken from the prison to stand before Brazil’s supreme court later this week.