“A Lamentable Story” – Woman cheated her aged mother out of her own home

Mr Judge Brian Cregan found what was involved was the fraudulent transfer of her home in Castletymon Green, Coolock, Dublin, which took place in 2003 but was not discovered until 2017.

He found that attorney Kevin O’Gorman was negligent in discharging his duties to Marie Gibson in 2003 and throughout the transaction.

The judge made the finding when he reversed a transfer between Marie and her late husband, John Gibson, and their daughter, Pauline Gibson, in 2003.

He found that no valid transfer of the house had taken place.

Even if there had been, the judge said he would have no hesitation in overturning it for fraud and improper influence by Pauline Gibson.

The judge described the case as “a deplorable story.”

He said that shortly after her husband’s death in 2017, Marie Gibson, an elderly widow in her 80s, discovered that her daughter Pauline had cheated her parents out of their family home in 2003 and allegedly arranged the transfer of that property to her herself.

While the house was worth €250,000 in 2003, Marie Gibson and her husband didn’t get a penny from the alleged transfer of their house, the judge said.

He said her daughter borrowed €190,000 from First Active in 2003 to mortgage the property.

The judge said if this fraud wasn’t enough, Kevin O’Gorman acted as counsel for both parties to the transaction.

“Mr. O’Gorman was grossly negligent in entering into the transaction and did not properly or at all advise Marie Gibson and her late husband in relation to the transaction,” the judge said, adding that Mr. O’Gorman has not been charged with fraud.

The judge said that Marie and her husband “were never made aware that they were allegedly transferring their home in full to their daughter for no consideration,” he said.

He said that Pauline Gibson forged her signatures on those documents, resulting in the property being registered in Pauline’s name.

The Judge Aid fraud only came to light when Mr Gibson died in 2017.

Shortly thereafter, Marie Gibson learned that her daughter had defaulted on the 2003 bank loan that Promontoria Oyster DAC had purchased from EBS.

It appointed a receiver to the property, which the Gibsons purchased from Dublin City Council in 1977.

The judge said Marie then went to her current attorney, Gaffney Halligan, who briefed Hugh O’Flaherty Bl on the proceedings.

Mr Justice Cregan ruled against Mr O’Gorman, who practiced under the title Kevin O’Gorman & Company Solicitors, her daughter Pauline Gibson and the liquidator Paul McCleary in a case brought by Marie Gibson.

She sued Mr. O’Gorman for professional negligence.

Mr O’Gorman had alleged that in 2003 he advised the plaintiff and her husband to “carefully consider what they are doing” and believed they had received independent financial advice from another party.

He said he outlined what would happen if Pauline didn’t pay back the loan and said they would like to move on.

Pauline Gibson, who was sued by her mother for fraud, deception and unjust enrichment, did not take part in the proceedings.

The receiver had taken a neutral role in relation to the complaint before the court relating to Marie Gibson’s motion to set aside the sale of the property and prevent her from owning a property in which Mrs Gibson had resided since the late 1960s.

The judge said several questions remain in the case, including quantifying the damages to which the plaintiff is entitled.