Sean Quinn and his wife ordered to repay millions

Once known as Ireland's richest man

By

PADDY CLANCY,

Irish Voice Reporter

Published Friday, January 20, 2012, 3:04 PM

Updated Friday, January 20, 2012, 3:04 PM

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

2 Comments

 

Fermanagh Businessman Sean Quinn arrives at the High Court in Belfast for the second day of his bankruptcy hearing. IBRC (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) are seeking to have his bankruptcy annulled.

Photo by Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Tweet

Further details of how Quinn ran his family business emerged in court papers filed in the family’s separate legal action against Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

The family has said the Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan has been owned by Mr. Quinn’s daughter Brenda since it was built in 1990, but that it was held in trust for her by her mother until she turned 18.

In response to queries raised by the bank about their claims, the family said that it was difficult to say when Brenda Quinn became aware of her ownership of the Slieve Russell as she was about three years old when it was built.

Patricia Quinn and her five children are challenging the bank’s claim that they owe €2.3 billion, claiming that the loans are “tainted with illegality.”

They argue that the loans were advanced not for the good of the Quinn Group of businesses or the family, but to prop up Anglo’s share price as the banking crisis developed.

In separate court proceedings in Belfast, IRBC is this week seeking to have Quinn’s bankruptcy overturned.

Quinn has been declared bankrupt in Northern Ireland, but IBRC claims he is not entitled to file for bankruptcy there as the majority of his business is conducted in the Republic.

In the Dublin proceedings, the Quinn family have named former Anglo chief executive David Drumm and Pat Whelan, Michael O’Sullivan, Lorcan McCluskey, Elma Kinane and Catherine Kilduff among those at the bank who dealt with their loans.

Drumm, who fled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has refused to return to Ireland to face questioning about his stewardship of the bank.

The government nationalized Anglo Irish when it became the industry’s biggest casualty during the banking crisis and former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes was appointed chairman of the re-named IBRC.

Meanwhile, the Garda (police) National Fraud Bureau and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) have been investigating alleged financial irregularities at the bank, and a number of former senior executives have been arrested for questioning.

They include former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean Fitzpatrick, who was arrested for the second time earlier this month.

Gardai said they are preparing a file on him to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will eventually decide if criminal charges are to be made against Fitzpatrick.

Print

E-mail

Tweet