One of Northern Ireland’s most prominent property developers told a jury today (Tuesday) that the lives of two men on trial for fraud have been “destroyed, both professionally and personally.”

Andrew Creighton was called to give evidence at an ongoing trial in Belfast Crown Court.

Ian Coulter (54), a former managing partner of Tughans solicitors who is from Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, has been charged with five offences over a timeframe of April 3 to December 1, 2014.

His 83-year old co-accused, former corporate financier Frank Hugh Cushnahan, from Alexandra Gate in Holywood, has had two counts of fraud spanning over a period from April 1 to November 7, 2013 levelled against him.

Both men have denied the charges levelled against them and it’s the Crown’s case that they were involved in brokering a deal to purchase the Northern Ireland loan book held by the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) and were set to benefit from a multi-million pound success fee.

After he was called to give evidence, Mr Creighton told the jury that he trusted both Cushnahan and Coulter and outlined how, in his opinion, their lives have been destroyed over the past 11 years and how it has been “devastating for them … and for what?”

Before this, Mr Creighton was questioned about his dealings with both men by Crown barrister Jonathan Kinnear KC.

After confirming he was a company director in a number of property development firms, Mr Creighton was asked how he knew Cushnahan.

He said that they first met around 2007 and that he was “keen to get to know him because he was a mover and shaker and a dealmaker about the town”.

Mr Creighton confirmed that he and Cushnahan had many business dealings over the next few years.

Moving onto 2014, Mr Kinnear asked Mr Creighton about a business meeting he had with Cushnahan in Tughan’s library in Belfast.

The witness said he got a call from someone who had been speaking to Cushnahan who told him to contact Cushnahan as he was “working on a project which could possibly see the Nama loan book sold”.

Mr Creighton said he called Cushnahan who invited him for a meeting which took place at the start of February.

Asked about the topic of conversation, Mr Creighton said Cushanhan told him he was working on a deal to get the loan book refinanced or sold and “he asked me could I help with details of my portfolio”.

Mr Creighton revealed the information – including the value of assets and the group’s rental income – being sought was “readily available” and that he was handing it out to others as he was seeking to refinance the loans himself.

The witness said that he asked Cushnahan who he was acting for and Cushnahan “wouldn’t disclose” this which didn’t surprise him as he “would have been quite private in his dealings”.

Mr Creighton said that after this meeting, he provided Cushnahan with “portfolio of documents” and that over a five or six week period he received “more and more questions asked” by “the third party” via Cushnahan.

He said that providing these requests for information took time and manpower and that “at one point” after providing more information he asked Cushnahan ‘am I going to get paid for doing this work?’ to make a point as he didn’t want to continue running back and forth with paperwork and to stop the endless enquiries.

When asked what Cushnahan’s response to this was, Mr Creighton said Cushnahan told him “if there was a successful bid he would see if he could get me paid from the successful bidder”.

Mr Kinnear then questioned Mr Creighton about a second meeting later in 2014 with Cushnahan.

He said during this meeting “Ian Coulter came into the room, just like grabbing a chance to say that no fees could be paid”.

Ian Coulter (Alan Lewis – Photopress Belfast/Photopress Belfast)

Mr Creighton said he assumed this was in relation to his comment about being paid but that it was “no big deal” whether or not he got paid for “providing paperwork”.

He also confirmed that in December 2014 he was handed an envelope from Cushnahan and was told it was contained a letter “along the lines I wouldn’t be making any claim against Tughans for any payment which I understand relates back to ‘am I going to get paid for this’.

“After what Ian Coulter had said, as far as I was concerned the matter was closed so I tore it up.”

Mr Kinnear then asked the witness a series of questions including whether he expected to receive a fee from the investment funds interested in purchasing the Northern Ireland loan book or if he had any knowledge of or made any suggestions about a £6m fee.

Mr Creighton answered ‘no’ to all these questions.

He was also cross-examined by defence barristers representing both men on trial.

When asked by Cushnahan’s barrister Frank O’Donoghue KC if his client was “somebody that you trusted”, Mr Creighton replied “yes, I still do”.

Coulter’s barrister Paddy Taggart then asked the witness about his client with Mr Creighton revealing “I’m still working with Ian Coulter as we speak”.

And when asked if he considered Coulter a “man of integrity” and “an honest man”, Mr Creighton said he did.

Referring to the two men in the dock, Creighton told the jury of nine men and three women: “These two men, over the past 11 years their lives have been destroyed, both professionally and personally.”

He said Cushnahan’s “proud wife” passed away in 2019 and she “never recovered from the headlines about this whole thing” while Coulter is “no longer a lawyer” and “his proud parents passed away in the middle of all of this.”

“It’s been devastating for them and for what?”

At hearing