On June 24, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States declined the petition to review filed by Sean Dunne and his ex-wife Gayle Killilea. In doing so the Supreme Court affirmed the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision which upheld a Federal District Court of Connecticut jury verdict obtained by Attorney, Thomas H. Curran.
The proceedings stemmed from the joint efforts of creditors and two bankruptcy trustees in the United States and Ireland to recover assets from Dunne’s struggling businesses in 2012. Ultimately, Dunne consented to a stipulated judgment against him for around $235 million for personal guarantees that he provided to secure debt for his companies from a consortium of Irish banks that was ultimately taken over by the National Assent Loan Management, Ltd (“NALM”). In 2012, NALM sued Dunne, Killilea, and other connected corporate entities in Connecticut state court, following concerns that Dunne had hidden assets from his creditors and fraudulently transferred assets to Killilea, as an attempt to deprive Dunne’s creditors of access to his assets. During the pendency of the state court action, Dunne filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut. In 2015, Plaintiff-Appellee, Richard M. Coan, Chapter 7 Trustee of the Estate of Sean Dunne, intervened and removed the state court action to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. An adversary proceeding was also initiated in the U. S. Bankruptcy Court against Killilea concerning the alleged fraudulent transfer of assets to her and her companies. Eventually, Richard M. Coan, Trustee was substituted for NALM as the plaintiff when the bankruptcy adversary proceedings and state action were consolidated before the district court.
The case went to trial in May 2019. The jury was instructed on eighteen counts of fraudulent transfers, under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Irish law, Connecticut law, Swiss Law, and South African law. After a 5-week jury trial led by lead trial attorney Thomas H. Curran, and five days of deliberation, the jury found against Killilea and awarded the Trustee damages against her with respect to those fraudulent transfers. Specifically, the jury found that Dunne had made multiple intentional and constructively fraudulent transfers within the meaning of Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code relating to nine separate counts of the Complaint. Killilea was found liable to the Trustee for in excess of €17,765,706 Euros plus $278,297.18 in U.S. Dollars.
Dunne and Killilea attempted to set aside the verdict and moved for a new trial. However, on October 27, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a non-precedential opinion, affirming the decisions “for substantially the same reasons as those set forth by the district court in its thorough and exceptionally well-reasoned ruling on Petitioners post-trial motions.” Additionally, the Second Circuit found Dunne’s and Killilea’s arguments were unpersuasive.
The Supreme Court has now refused to hear the case and has denied the Petition for Writ of Certiorari brought by Dunne and Killilea.