By John Mulligan
Copyright independent
They come just days after Bord Gáis Energy registered a judgment of €24,000 against the firm headed by Oisin Fanning, after it failed to pay is energy bills.
The three separate judgments secured by South Dublin County Council against the company are in relation to rates.
The judgments have been secured against San Leon Energy PLC, which official company records show has been based at Crampton Avenue in Dublin 2 since 2019. Records show that before that, its address was at Wilton Park House in central Dublin.
However, its website states that its Irish office address is in Citywest Business Campus in the south of the city.
“This is in relation to a dispute about rates,” a company spokesperson said. “San Leon Energy only occupied a small portion of the property in Citywest. The company’s solicitors are dealing with the other tenants to recover monies that are due and owed by these tenants in the building.”
The spokesperson said San Leon only used a “small office” in the Citywest premises and retains a virtual office address there.
One of the judgments secured by South Dublin County Council against San Leon Energy is for €189,000.
Another is for almost €118,000 and the third is for nearly €87,000.
All three judgments were registered against the energy firm this week.
The company has not filed accounts since 2022
San Leon would have had a final opportunity to pay the debts owed to the council and to Bord Gáis Energy before the judgments were registered against the firm.
It now means that the council and Bord Gáis Energy could potentially seek to seize San Leon Energy’s assets to cover the debt.
The types of assets seized can depend on the scale of the debt to be recovered. Seizures can extend to assets such as vehicles and bank accounts, for instance.
San Leon’s major commercial asset is an interest in an onshore oil field in Nigeria. The company delisted from London’s Alternative Investment Market in 2024. It has failed to secure significant financing it has sought in order to increase its interest in a firm connected to the Nigerian asset, and to pay off outstanding creditors.
The company has not filed accounts since 2022, which were for its 2021 financial year, meaning its current financial position cannot be publicly assessed.
The filing delays place it in danger of being involuntarily struck off and its three directors, including Mr Fanning, being potentially prosecuted.
When asked last week in relation to the judgement secured against the firm by Bord Gáis Energy, San Leon insisted that it was solvent and has “significant cash reserves”.
It said it could not comment on the judgment because it was unaware of it.
San Leon and Mr Fanning have separately been involved in extensive litigation over the past few years in Ireland, the UK and the United States.
San Leon initiated legal action in Dublin earlier this year against Toronto–based investment firm Tri Ri Asset Management.
The Irish oil firm claims the Canadian company failed to honour an investment agreement.
Mr Fanning also had his exclusive multimillion-pound London home repossessed by a specialist lender after he defaulted on repayments. He is now suing the lender.
