Irish lawyer and property developer Michael Lynn has said he has not "absconded" and was preparing to return to Ireland, Irish daily Independent said.

The announcement was made by a Dublin lawyer, speaking on behalf of Lynn, saying he "will be available" to meet bankers and lawyers in Ireland.

Lynn was the center of a 30 mln euro property crisis. He was believed to have borrowed up to 80 mln euro for investments in property. The Independent daily said many financial institutions were looking to secure up to 30 mln euro, believing that he re-mortgaged many of the properties in his portfolio with different lenders to expand his business.

Lynn's main concern was to return to Ireland, the lawyer said on his behalf. "He says he has enough assets to go around and there will not be a problem," he said. "he has assured me that he is coming back to face all this."

Lynn was believed to have been in Portugal for the past two weeks. He has extensive property holdings in that country.

The way the crisis had unfolded would lead to concern among those who have paid deposits on overseas property but not yet secured the title, the Independent said.

In 2006, one of Lynn's property companies gave away a 100 000 euro apartment in Bulgaria on the Late Late Show as part of a promotion. He also used the services of high-profile footballers in Ireland and Portugal to promote his businesses.

In October 2006, Lynn's company Kendar Global Properties announced it would invest 75 mln euro in apartments and real estate in Bulgaria before 2010. Its first investment project was the Kendar All Seasons Resort, a vacation complex with some 300 apartments, near the village of Koukoulevo, scheduled to be ready in March 2008, Dnevnik daily said.
Other investments were planned for the regions of Varna and Shkopilovtsi. According to Sonya Aleksandrova, country manager for Bulgaria, expected return on investment would be 16 - 20 per cent, Dnevnik quoted SeeNews.