Mr Lynn received a five-and-a-half-year sentence in February 2024 for theft of up to €18 million from six financial institutions by taking out multiple mortgages on the same properties. He was released from prison under the Community Return Scheme in August.

A statement from Mr Lynn’s solicitors KRW Law sets out that the appeal raises important questions concerning the circumstances in which complex commercial lending arrangements may give rise to criminal liability for theft. The defence case is that the lending institutions were aware of, or had agreed to, arrangements concerning the use and movement of loan funds that were not fully reflected in the formal loan documentation.

The appeal will also focus on concerns regarding missing electronic evidence, the failure to obtain potentially significant records and restrictions placed upon defence evidence during the trial. It is contended that these matters limited the defence’s ability to fully advance its case before the jury.

The Court will be asked to consider whether these issues, viewed individually and cumulatively, affected the fairness of the trial process and the safety of the resulting convictions.

Kevin Winters, solicitor for Mr Lynn, said: “Like many cases before the Criminal Court of Appeal, this is a challenging appeal, but one which centres on an important question of law: what actually amounts to theft in the context of complex commercial lending arrangements. We will ask the Court to revisit the relevant legal authorities and examine whether the jury had the necessary evidence to properly assess the arrangements between Mr Lynn and the lending institutions. This is an important appeal, both in terms of the interpretation of the law of theft and the fairness of the trial process.”

Counsel instructed on behalf of Mr Lynn by KRW LAW for the appeal are Barra McGrory SC, Eamonn Dornan BL, Kyle Talbot BL and Aoife McCann BL.