U2 GUITARIST Adam Clayton is suing his former accountant for €10m (£7m) plus damages after a series of losses from failed investments.
Mr Clayton has claimed that he relied on Gaby Smyth for financial and investment advice between 2001 and 2010.
The ventures he undertook included property and other investments in Romania and Ireland.
But Mr Clayton claims that Mr Smyth negligently, and in breach of his duty, advised him to enter high-risk investments when he did not want to.
Mr Smyth not only denies being negligent – he also denies acting as Mr Clayton’s financial and investment advisor in the time specified.
The accountant, with an address in Wyvern, Killiney in Co. Dublin, says he acted as the musician’s personal accountant – but his financial reports were compiled by Mr Clayton’s former personal assistant Carol Hawkins.
Mr Clayton’s first case, which was initiated in 2011, involves a claim for more than £3m of losses which he allegedly incurred after investing in two funds on Mr Smyth’s advice – one of which was Britain-based.
He claims Mr Smyth advised him to invest more than £800,000 in the Friends First Orion fund, focused on Britain and the North of Ireland – as well as £2.2m in the Friends First Crystal fund.
A second case initiated two years later saw Mr Clayton claim Mr Smyth is liable for £3.6m losses he incurred after investing in the Timisorara Partnership in Romania.
Mr Clayton is also seeking damages from Mr Smyth in the case, which came before Dublin's High Court on Thursday, October 15.
In a pre-trial application, Mr Smyth said he wants the High Court to quash a February 2014 decision to allow Mr Clayton to continue with the prosecution of the 2013 case.
The application has been adjourned to continue in November.
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