Brian MacCaba
Encyclopedia
Brian MacCaba is a multi-millionaire businessman born and raised in Ireland
but now primarily based in London
and Jerusalem. Although he made his fortune in the e-commerce sector through his company Cognotec, he is perhaps best known for his part in the infamous 'Indecent Proposal' libel case which was the longest-running slander case in British
legal history.
area of Glenageary
. His father, Séamus, was a civil servant in the Irish Department of Agriculture, while his mother, Vera, was one of the first two female accountant
s in Ireland
. Raised as a Catholic
he attended the rugby-playing, private Christian Brothers
school in Monkstown
. He went on to University College Dublin
, where he was an avid Gaeilgeoir
(Irish speaker) heavily involved in the Sudents' Union, and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce
. McCabe also served as auditor of the noted Commerce and Economic Society (his predecessors in that role included Charles Haughey
and Feargal Quinn
) and was also a classmate and friend of future millionaire Philip Berber
, with whom he set up Expert Information Systems based in London
in 1984. He later attained a MA
from the London School of Economics
.
in 1990 after reading more than 200 books on the subject. He subsequently became an important figure in the Jewish community of North London
and further afield. He adopted an ultra-orthodox Jewish lifestyle and contributed money to the community. He helped organise several trips of senior Israel
i figures to Downing Street
to meet Tony Blair
and accompanied the influential Shas
, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on one such meeting.
MacCaba describes himself as more heavily influenced by Jewish culture than politics.
Married twice with six children, MacCaba keeps homes in Britain
and Jerusalem.
His most successful one, however, was Cognotec, a company based in Dublin providing foreign exchange software for large banks and corporations. The company attracted multimillion pound investment from Softbank
among others. They also have struck up partnerships with Bloomberg
. Cognotec had offices in Ireland
, Britain
, New York
and Tokyo
. Cognotec went into receivership in February 2010. The assets were bought by First Derivatives.
MacCaba's exact wealth is unknown, but estimates have ranged from £20 million upwards to hundreds of millions when Cognotec's value was at its highest during the dotcom boom. He also has a number of other investments throughout the world. MacCaba was said to be among the 50 richest people in Ireland
, the 50 most important Irish in Britain and among the 30 individuals taking greatest advantage of the net in Europe
and Asia
.
. The case became known as the 'Indecent Proposal' case due to its similarity to the movie starring Robert Redford
, Indecent Proposal
. Based on the evidence presented prior to the hearing at the High Court in London, it emerged that MacCaba had carried on an intimate correspondence in the late 1990s with an ultra-Orthodox woman whom he allegedly attempted to "free" from her marriage, after offering her husband $1 million.
MacCaba alleged Lichtenstein had slandered him in a "long-standing campaign". He accused Lichtenstein of spreading "heinous" allegations that he was a "serial adulterer" and "sexual predator". Matters came to a head when MacCaba had trouble with his child's application to school because of the rumours. Lichtenstein denied the accusations. He said he had not used the term "adulterer," even though he claimed he had received several reports of "inappropriate" behavior by MacCaba toward Jewish women.
The Jewish Chronicle dubbed it the "Case of the Sacred and the Profane" as the intimate marital relations of two families were laid bare and the "bad blood" between the businessman and the rabbi exposed.
The case lasted six weeks and was the longest-running slander trial in UK history. The case was decided in favour of Lichenstein, and MacCaba had to pay costs of £2 million.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
but now primarily based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Jerusalem. Although he made his fortune in the e-commerce sector through his company Cognotec, he is perhaps best known for his part in the infamous 'Indecent Proposal' libel case which was the longest-running slander case in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
legal history.
Personal
Born Brian McCabe, he was raised in the middle class south DublinSouth Dublin
South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...
area of Glenageary
Glenageary
Glenageary is an area in the suburbs of south County Dublin, Ireland, part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County.While there is no officially defined boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Sallynoggin, Dalkey, Dun Laoghaire, Glasthule and Johnstown...
. His father, Séamus, was a civil servant in the Irish Department of Agriculture, while his mother, Vera, was one of the first two female accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
s in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Raised as a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
he attended the rugby-playing, private Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
school in Monkstown
Monkstown
Monkstown is a placename shared by more than one area in Ireland:*Monkstown, County Cork, a town in County Cork.*Monkstown, County Dublin, a town or suburb on the outskirts of Dublin city in County Dublin....
. He went on to University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
, where he was an avid Gaeilgeoir
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
(Irish speaker) heavily involved in the Sudents' Union, and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. The degree is also known as the Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, or BCA...
. McCabe also served as auditor of the noted Commerce and Economic Society (his predecessors in that role included Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
and Feargal Quinn
Feargal Quinn
Feargal Quinn is an Irish politician, businessman, television personality and an independent member of Seanad Éireann.-Early and personal life:...
) and was also a classmate and friend of future millionaire Philip Berber
Philip Berber
Philip Berber is an Irish millionaire and philanthropist. He is well known for his former company, CyBerCorp, which he sold for $488 million dollars in 2000 and his subsequent philanthropy through his and his wife's charity, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation.-Early life:Berber was born in Dublin in...
, with whom he set up Expert Information Systems based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1984. He later attained a MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Religion
He converted to JudaismConversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
in 1990 after reading more than 200 books on the subject. He subsequently became an important figure in the Jewish community of North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
and further afield. He adopted an ultra-orthodox Jewish lifestyle and contributed money to the community. He helped organise several trips of senior Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i figures to Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
to meet Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and accompanied the influential Shas
Shas
Shas is an ultra-orthodox religious political party in Israel, primarily representing Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Judaism.Shas was founded in 1984 by dissident members of the Ashkenazi dominated Agudat Israel, to represent the interests of religiously observant Sephardic and Mizrahi ...
, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on one such meeting.
MacCaba describes himself as more heavily influenced by Jewish culture than politics.
Married twice with six children, MacCaba keeps homes in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Jerusalem.
Business
MacCaba has been involved in setting up businesses since his mid-twenties.His most successful one, however, was Cognotec, a company based in Dublin providing foreign exchange software for large banks and corporations. The company attracted multimillion pound investment from Softbank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
among others. They also have struck up partnerships with Bloomberg
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...
. Cognotec had offices in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Cognotec went into receivership in February 2010. The assets were bought by First Derivatives.
MacCaba's exact wealth is unknown, but estimates have ranged from £20 million upwards to hundreds of millions when Cognotec's value was at its highest during the dotcom boom. He also has a number of other investments throughout the world. MacCaba was said to be among the 50 richest people in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the 50 most important Irish in Britain and among the 30 individuals taking greatest advantage of the net in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
'Indecent proposal' slander case
MacCaba shot to worldwide notice in 2004 when he took a case against religious court Judge Yaakov Israel Lichtenstein, one of the senior members of the ultra-Orthodox community in BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The case became known as the 'Indecent Proposal' case due to its similarity to the movie starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal
Indecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.-Plot:...
. Based on the evidence presented prior to the hearing at the High Court in London, it emerged that MacCaba had carried on an intimate correspondence in the late 1990s with an ultra-Orthodox woman whom he allegedly attempted to "free" from her marriage, after offering her husband $1 million.
MacCaba alleged Lichtenstein had slandered him in a "long-standing campaign". He accused Lichtenstein of spreading "heinous" allegations that he was a "serial adulterer" and "sexual predator". Matters came to a head when MacCaba had trouble with his child's application to school because of the rumours. Lichtenstein denied the accusations. He said he had not used the term "adulterer," even though he claimed he had received several reports of "inappropriate" behavior by MacCaba toward Jewish women.
The Jewish Chronicle dubbed it the "Case of the Sacred and the Profane" as the intimate marital relations of two families were laid bare and the "bad blood" between the businessman and the rabbi exposed.
The case lasted six weeks and was the longest-running slander trial in UK history. The case was decided in favour of Lichenstein, and MacCaba had to pay costs of £2 million.