LOCAL ACCOUNTANT Alan Hynes looks set to face a High Court battle with US bank Goldman Sachs next month over a €7.5m debt.

Hynes was last year barred from the Institute of Chartered Accountants following complains from investors who lost more than €18m on his property ventures.

Now, following a court ruling, the Goldman Sachs controlled firm Ennis Property Finance is to seek judgement against Hynes and his wife Noreen for the debt at the end of next month. The case is expected to take at least four days.

Hynes was not in court on Wednesday but had indicated that the couple were denying the claim and intended to defend the case.

They originally borrowed the money from Bank of Scotland for property deals in Dublin and Wexford. The bank began legal action for repayment in September 2014. Goldman bought the debt from the lender early last year.

It is also reported that Hynes intends to bring a High Court challenge to the ruling by the Chartered Accountants’ Regulatory Board excluding him from the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

One of the issues with which the court was dealing on Wednesday was Mr Hynes’s motion to involve a number of other parties in Ennis’s case. These included AIB, which has a judgment against him for €2 million, but which Mr Hynes is suing; and Neil Hughes, the liquidator of a Hynes company, Tuskar Asset Management. The judge struck out this motion and criticised Mr Hynes for failing to turn up.