Boxing champ lashes out at property tycoon over holiday home fraud

Boxing champ lashes out at property tycoon over holiday home fraud




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A property tycoon, at the centre of a £4 million fraud investigation, is suing a former world boxing champion in the latest twist of a multi-million pound deception involving almost 100 families.

Kevin O’Kane, 51, from Bellaghy, is seeking compensation from the boxer, Eamonn Loughran, 37, after he punched him three years ago for allegedly being conned out of £75,000 by the tycoon.
 
The lawsuit is the latest twist in the ongoing saga, which is still under investigation by both the Police Service of Northern Island (PSNI) and the Turkey authorities.
 
Originally, a lawsuit was brought against Mr O’Kane in 2007, after a number of Irish families claimed they had been duped into buying property on the Golden Beach holiday resort in Turkey, only to discover they didn’t own it. Mr Loughran is one such investor.
 
Mr O’Kane is under investigation for allegedly conspiring with a Turkish property developer and selling homes to about 80 Northern Ireland investors which they never received. He strenuously denies all charges.
 
However, he has since had his extensive property portfolio assets frozen, preventing him from doing any business and he isn’t allowed to leave the country.
 
And now Mr O’Kane has decided to sue and has launched a civil lawsuit against Mr Loughran for damages, as he claims to suffer frequent headaches and forgetfulness ever since the attack.
 
During the hearing in Coleraine County Court, Mr O’Kane said he had to receive hospital treatment, including stitches to his head, face and back after being punched in the face.
 
The incident is said to have occurred during a meeting between the two men designed to resolve the £75,000 dispute.
 
According to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr O’Kane told the court that the boxer had asked him to visit a local estate agent to try to “talk the situation through.”  
 
“I didn't see any harm in it so I went with him. They started asking me about the deals and I told them it was being dealt with by the police. The agent started questioning me about it. I said ‘you don’t know anything about it’,” Mr O’Kane told the court.
 
He added: “Mr Loughran started saying that I had stolen his money. I just got up to go out of the office. He just kept shouting that I stole his money. I walked out to go to the car to go back home. I was walking out and Mr Loughran called my name.
 
“As I looked around I was hit on the face and stumbled to the ground ... the side of my head struck the kerb on the footpath ... I just wanted to get offside. I was afraid of getting hit again.”
 
But Mr Loughran told the court that during the meeting with the estate agent, which he said he arranged in the hope of getting some of his money back, Mr O’Kane became “frustrated” and “angry”.
 
“When we were outside I told him he was a thief and a liar and he saw red. He went for me in the form of a headbutt.
 
“I stepped my body back and I glanced him with my left fist, I am right handed, and he just fell over.
 
“I caught him off balance. It was a glancing blow just to put him off balance,” said Mr Loughran.
 
Deputy County Court Judge Edgar reserved judgment in the case until he reviews the evidence.
 

 

 

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