Embattled developer Liam Carroll's Danninger vehicle has launched six legal challenges to the Companies Act so far this year as he battles to keep his property empire afloat, according to court documents seen by the Sunday Tribune.

On Friday Carroll was refused a petition for an examiner to be appointed to six companies in what is known as the Zoe Group, which owes more than €1.2bn to banks. It has cross-guarantees on some properties owned by Danninger and its associated companies.

Meanwhile, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) entered into a mortgage agreement with Carroll personally in July 2007 for a total of 24 properties, including lands to the rear of Jervis Street, Dublin, the Sunday Tribune has learned. The documents, seen by this newspaper, indicate that only four of the mortgages have been paid in full.

Carroll and his wife Róisín were granted 23 mortgages for properties scattered across Dublin city centre over the past ten years, according to documents lodged with the Registry of Deeds. Five financial institutions granted mortgages to Carroll over the decade for properties located mainly in the north of the city around Jervis Street.

Bank of Ireland gave Carroll nine mortgages in the early part of the decade. However, he appears to have taken his business elsewhere since then: EBS, Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and First Active all granted mortgages to the troubled property magnate over the period.

Carroll told the court he will sell off his equity investments as part of a business survival plan. Accounts for his companies show he lost €260m in the stock market stakes he held.

"There is no precedent I can think of for such large stakes facing this situation," said Oliver Gilvarry, head of research at Dolmen Securities. "The implications have already led to uncertainty."

At the height of the stock market boom, Carroll also held shares indirectly through stock market bets called contracts for difference (CFDs), and it is difficult to calculate any potential gains or losses on such investments.

Last week, Carroll was granted planning permission to develop a 10-storey office and retail building at Arran Quay on the banks of the Liffey in Dublin city centre.