Blog Archives
Can you Trust big business? March review 2013
Despite all the Irregularities listed below nobody has yet been sent to prison.
To put this in perspective almost 200 people were jailed in Ireland for not paying court fines relating to TV licences last year.
One rule for the rich and another for the poor
‘Bankers should be technicians and functionaries who serve the public and provide guaranteed stability. They should not be entrepreneurs, gamblers, who can count on public bailouts if their speculations turn to dust.’
The Guardian, Friday 1 March 2013
One of London’s most successful hedge fund managers, Patrick Degorce, has been forced to part with millions of pounds in tax after Revenue and Customs persuaded the courts to throw out a complex film
RTE – 1st March
Seán FitzPatrick facing 12 charges over financial irregularities. Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman and chief executive Seán FitzPatrick has been sent forward for trial on 12 charges in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the bank. He is accused of making false, misleading or deceptive statements in relation to millions of euro to the company’s auditors, Ernst and Young, over a six-year period. The amounts on the charges are €5.1m in 2002; €14m in 2003; €23m in 2004; €42.1m in 2005; €60.9m in 2006 and €139.8m in 2007.
Telegraph Saturday 02 March 2013
Ernst & Young to pay $123m to settle US tax shelter probe Ernst & Young has agreed to pay $123m to resolve a US federal investigation into its role developing and marketing tax shelters that helped its clients avoid more than $2bn in tax liabilities. As part of the settlement, announced by the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, the accounting firm also entered into a non-prosecution agreement and admitted to the wrongful conduct of certain partners and employees. The settlement amount reflects the gross fees Ernst & Young earned developing and marketing four tax shelter products from 1999 to 2004, according to the nonprosecution agreement.
Telegraph Saturday 02 March 2013
Commodity giant Glencore under spotlight over Iran Glencore, the FTSE 100 commodity giant, supplied tonnes of raw material to an Iranian firm that supplied the country’s nuclear programme, it emerged. A Western intelligence report seen by Reuters described Glencore’s barter deal as a good way for Tehran to get around global financial restrictions imposed over its nuclear activities, although it did not say that Glencore violated sanctions.
March 2, 2013 Reuters –
Las Vegas Sands says “likely” violated U.S. corruption act March 2, 2013 4:39 PM ET Reuters) – Las Vegas Sands Corp said it “likely” violated the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which outlaws the bribery of foreign officials, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday. The filing marks the first disclosure by the casino operator, controlled by founder and billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, that is was under investigation.
Independant Thursday 5th March 2013
IBRC suing two Dubai firms in Quinn case TWO related companies based in Dubai are being sued by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) over their alleged involvement in an asset-stripping scheme by family members of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn. In the commercial court yesterday Judge Peter Kelly granted an application by IBRC to join Senat Legal and Senat FZC, both of Gold and Diamond Park, Dubai, and Michael Waechter, principal of Senat FZC, as co-defendants to the bank’s action against various members of the Quinn family. The judge noted IBRC special liquidator Kieran Wallace claimed the Senat parties played “a pivotal role” in the scheme to strip assets worth up to $500m from the Quinn family’s International Property Group (IPG). It is alleged the scheme was “masterminded by one or all” of the three, the judge said.
Irish Times Thursday, March 7, 2013
Microsoft fined €561m for limiting browser choice Shares in Microsoft dropped yesterday after the European Commission imposed a €561 million fine on the company for failing to implement a previous ruling obliging it to offer users a choice of internet browsers. It is the first time the commission has been forced to fine a company for non-compliance with agreed commitments. In 2009 a European antitrust investigation found that Microsoft was unfairly tying its internet Explorer browser to its Windows operating system, and ruled that the company must give users a choice of which internet browsers to use.
The Telegraph 8th Mar 2013
Pensioners being ‘ripped off’ by profit margins on annuities Retiring workers are being “ripped off” by financial companies making huge profit margins on annuities, campaigners have warned. A Telegraph investigation has raised concerns about the profits that insurance companies and other firms are making on annuities. Only one annuities provider, Standard Life, has disclosed its margins on annuities, revealing that it pockets almost 20p of every pound a customer pays for an annuity. Other firms refuse to reveal their margins, and experts warn that the industry is concealing large profits. Ros Altmann, a pensions campaigner, said: “These huge margins are outrageous.”
The Guardian, Monday 11 March 2013
All bets are off as online gambling group Intrade launches investigation
Irish company announces it is looking into possible ‘financial irregularities’ and has ‘immediately ceased’ its trading activity Online gambling group Intrade has ceased taking bets after launching an investigation into potential “financial irregularities”.
Irish TIMES 14 MARCH 2013
THE son of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn has provided statements of Russian bank accounts held by himself and other family members to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) and is anxious to finally purge his contempt of court orders, the High Court heard today.
The Guardian, Friday 15 March 2013
US hedge fund SAC pays record fine to settle insider trading allegations SAC Capital, a hedge fund run by billionaire Steve Cohen, is to pay $600m (£397m), the biggest insider dealing fine in history
The Guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 March 2013
JP Morgan faced a barrage of criticism on Friday for it disastrous “London whale” trading loss as senators and the bank’s regulator accused its executives of believing they were too big to fail, ignoring warnings about the escalating losses and deliberately withholding information. At a hearing a day after it published a damning 300-page report on JP Morgan’s $6.2bn debacle, the Senate subcommittee on investigations hammered bank executives over the affair, while regulators flatly denied JP Morgan’s claims that it had kept them informed about the mounting losses.
The TELEGRAPH 19 Mar 2013
French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac resigns after tax fraud probe
Cahuzac, a cabinet heavyweight, had been tasked with fighting tax evasion. He is now under investigation for holding a secret Swiss bank account. The resignation is an embarrassment and a blow to President François Hollande as his government seeks to redraft deficit reduction plans to maintain fiscal credibility with France’s euro zone partners. Mr Cahuzac was responsible for making drastic government spending cuts. He had repeatedly dismissed as “crazy” a report in December by French investigative news website Mediapart that he held an undisclosed account at the Swiss bank UBS until the start of 2010. “I have never had an account in Switzerland or any other place abroad,” he said at the time.
RTE Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Representatives of the special liquidator of IBRC served papers on three former directors of Irish Nationwide last night. It is understood the legal action relates to their stewardship of the building society. Papers were served on former directors Terence Cooney and Stan Purcell, and former chairman Michael Walsh. It is understood that it is intended that papers will be served on former managing director Michael Fingleton and another former director David Brophy.
RTE 27TH March
Britain’s financial services regulator has fined insurer Prudential £30m and censured its chief executive over its handling of a failed bid to acquire rival AIA in 2010. The UK’s Financial Services Authority fine concerned Prudential’s plans to acquire AIA, the Asian subsidiary of AIG. The bid eventually collapsed after both parties failed to agree on a price. The FSA said Prudential did not inform it of the deal – even though they held a detailed meeting only weeks before news of the deal emerged. The FSA also censured CEO Tidjane Thiam, for playing a significant part in the decision not to contact the regulator. The regulator said the deal’s size would have been the biggest in the UK and could have affected confidence in the country’s financial system.
The Guardian, Thursday 28 March
Royal Bank of Scotland is being sued for misleading investors during its £12bn emergency fundraising in 2008, in a landmark joint claim brought by Dutch bank ING and pension funds for British coal miners.
Quinns’ evidence ‘completely unbelievable’
The case is back before the High Court
Evidence given to the High Court by some members of the Quinn family about assets and bank accounts was “incredible, not complete, implausible and conflicting”, the High Court has heard.
Lawyers for IBRC have said the court must now assess if adequate disclosure had been made and consider if further orders are necessary.
Shane Murphy for IBRC said evidence about huge sums withdrawn from Russian bank accounts was “completely unbelievable”.
Evidence that they had no documents to prove huge cash withdrawals were used for legal fees was “inexplicable”, he said.
Mr Murphy is making submissions for the bank in an application before the High Court concerning disclosure by members of the Quinn family about alleged asset-stripping of the International Property Group of companies.
Members of the Quinn family were cross-examined for five days in January about their disclosure of assets and bank accounts.
Mr Murphy said evidence was given that huge sums of cash withdrawn in Ireland were used for legal fees, yet no bills or receipts could be accessed.
He said the “shutters had come down” with regard to the money trail and a confusing picture had emerged about what the money was used for.
Mr Murphy said there were a number of areas of concern about the level of disclosure by the Quinns and further court orders may be necessary.
Orders could be made directing Aoife Quinn to have a laptop forensically examined to retrieve deleted emails.
He said the “policy of deletion” outlined by the Quinns illustrated that full disclosure had not been made.
A number of striking features had emerged in evidence, he said, including the fact that none of the Quinns appeared to have copies of employment contracts or evidence of job descriptions, despite receiving large sums from Russian companies.
Salaries received by some of the Quinns from IPG companies were significantly larger than the Russian employees, often tenfold, illustrating that Seán Quinn Jnr played a major managerial and controlling role and not one of middle management as he had purported, he said.
There had been a lack of disclosure about the role some of the Quinns played in IPG companies, Mr Murphy said.
Documents existed that would show a level of control and leadership by Mr Quinn Jnr, Aoife Quinn and Stephen Kelly, he said.
IBRC has alleged widespread asset-stripping of Quinn companies.
The Quinns deny full disclosure has not been made.
Counsel for the Quinns, Martin Hayden SC, said the court would have to decide what exactly the order for disclosure was.
He said they were not seeking to avoid court orders or to be technical to avoid an obligation.
However, the process of disclosure differed from discovery, he said.
Disclosure orders did not go beyond the requirement of disclosing documents in the possession of a defendant, he said.
Discovery was a much broader concept, while disclosure was narrow.
The current orders being sought by the bank amounted to it seeking an “evidentiary trail to support its argument in the main action”.
Mr Hayden said it could not be a game of trial by ambush.
IBRC’s application for further disclosure orders was entirely artificial in relation to the Quinn IPG groups as the bank had already appointed a receiver over those companies and would already have the information.
He said bank statements for accounts in Ocean Bank in Russia had been furnished.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly will give his judgment at a later date.
via Quinns’ evidence ‘completely unbelievable’ – IBRC – RTÉ News.
via Quinns’ evidence ‘completely unbelievable’ – IBRC – RTÉ News.
IBRC will pay €155m to Russian firm to help secure Quinn assets
THE STATE-OWNED Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) is to get the help of one of Russia’s largest business groups to try and recover Quinn property put beyond its reach.
Under the deal, the investment arm of the Alfa Group, A1, will keep up to $200 million (€155 million) of property formerly owned by the family of Seán Quinn and now held by other Russian interests and offshore firms, in return for helping to recover property.
The move by the IBRC comes as the former billionaire, Seán Quinn (66), is starting a nine-week sentence in Mountjoy Jail for contempt of court. It was approved by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and is linked to the bank’s view that such a deal is the only option left open to it given the stance being adopted by the Quinn family.
IBRC has been trying for more than a year to seize an international property group worth up to $500 million and over which it says it has legal security linked to loans to the Quinns. The family has told the High Court that it set in train a scheme to put the assets beyond the bank’s reach but that it is now no longer in control of the asset-stripping scheme and cannot retrieve the assets. The bank says it does not believe the family.
Mr Quinn was jailed yesterday for nine weeks by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne as punishment for an “outrageous” contempt of court in relation to persisting with the asset-stripping after being ordered last year to desist. She referred to Mr Quinn’s statement in an affidavit that his dispute with IBRC had “negatively consumed” his life and that of his family. “In my view, he has only himself to blame.”
She said Mr Quinn’s contempt was a serious one and that it was important that court orders were complied with and the integrity of the court system was “not set at naught”.
The family is disputing the legality of the security, which, it claims, is linked to loans issued by Anglo as part of an effort to shore up its share price. Its claim has not yet been heard by the courts.
However, members of the family have admitted they initiated a scheme to put the secured assets beyond the reach of the bank.
Mr Quinn will be moved today to the semi-open training unit in Mountjoy, having spent last night in the committal unit. His son, Seán jnr, has already served a three-month sentence for contempt in Mountjoy.
In an extraordinary day in the High Court Mr Quinn was sentenced, but offered the opportunity to have the sentence stayed pending an appeal. The court rose to allow him consult with his legal team, which he did before going to the bar in the Four Courts to drink a pint in the company of supporters.
When he returned to court it was announced that he wanted to start his sentence forthwith. When he knew a decision had been made, he liked to get on with it, he told reporters, before being led away by a uniformed garda.
The former billionaire, who is now a bankrupt, looked tearful after a female supporter gave him a hug as he was exiting the courtroom.
In July IBRC succeeded in having an administrator appointed to a valuable property in Moscow, but last month that gain was reversed by the Russian courts.
The bank has now decided to do a deal with one of the largest privately owned conglomerates in Russia, the Alfa Group, as it believes its chances of recovering valuable property in Russia and the Ukraine are poor without the involvement of an experienced local partner.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny would not comment directly on the sentencing of Mr Quinn, though he said it behoved every citizen to co-operate with bank inquiries. The North’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he couldn’t comment on a court the case “other than to say that I think that the banks have an awful lot to answer for”.
High Court sentences Sean Quinn snr to 9 weeks in jail –
Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man but now bankrupt, is beginning a nine-week jail sentence this afternoon.
Mr Quinn has decided to begin the term imposed on him now despite the fact he is to appeal to the Supreme Court against findings he acted in outrageous contempt of court orders, his lawyer said.
Having been given time to consider the matter, Eugene Grant QC, for Mr Quinn, said his client wanted to begin his jail term now as, while he was maintaining his appeal, he was also conscious of the Supreme Court’s recent decision dismissing his son’s finding against a three month sentence for contempt.
Counsel said Mr Quinn was a 66-year-old grandfather and was anxious to attend a grandchild’s christening on December 22nd next but was not eligible for remission as this was a sentence for contempt. He asked that the court agree to release him for that event.
Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne said an application for compassionate release would have to be made to the prison authorities.
Miss Justice Dunne earlier said Mr Quinn’s contempt was so serious that she could come to no other conclusion that it mandated a term of imprisonment.
She could not ignore the extent and degree of contempt by Mr Quinn and, taking all various matters into account, including his health problems, she would impose a nine-week term.
While Mr Quinn had spoken about how the court proceedings had negatively consumed his life and that of his family, she said: “In my view, he has only himself to blame.”
It was not disputed significant assets had been put beyond the reach of IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank, and the position of the Quinn defendants appeared to be they were so successful in that regard, they themselves could not retrieve the assets, the judge said. However, she did not have to decide that issue now.
The situation was IBRC claimed it was owed €2.8 billion by the Quinns and, while there was dispute about that, it was accepted €455 million was owed.
The judge had said she was imposing a nine-week term but the issue of whether there would be a serious dispute about that, it was accepted the Quinns owed €455 million to the bank, she said. Putting assets beyond the reach of the bank in defiance of the court’s orders was, as she had previously found, “nothing short of outrageous”.
It was important to ensure court orders were complied with and the integrity of the court system was not set at naught by “an egregious breach of court orders”.
A stay on the nine-week term pending an appeal against the findings of contempt was adjourned earlier today after Mr Quinn’s lawyer said he wanted time to consider whether to go to jail immediately or proceed with the appeal.
Shane Murphy SC, for IBRC, had said it would agree to a stay provided Mr Quinn’s lawyers progressed any appeal urgently.
However, at 12.50 today, Mr Grant said his client would begin his term now while maintaining the appeal.
In her decision today, the judge referred to her previous findings of contempt against Mr Quinn and her rejection of his evidence in the contempt hearing as not credible, evasive and uncooperative. She had also found he had given his imprimatur to the asset-stripping scheme.
She stressed the only issue she was dealing with today was the punitive aspect of the case as coercive matters have been adjourned. She was dealing with punitive issues arising from past non-compliance with court orders.
The judge delivered her ruling in a courtroom packed with lawyers, journalists and supporters of Mr Quinn. Mr Quinn’s son Sean and sons in law Niall McPartland and Stephen Kelly were also in court.
IBRC was represented in court today by its chief executive Mike Aynsley and senior executive Richard Woodhouse.
Mr Quinn was jailed arising from the judge’s findings last June that acted in contempt of court orders made in June and July 2011 restraining stripping of assets valued up to US$430 million from companies in the IPG.
Mr Quinn told reporters following the sentence that he just wanted to get on with the sentence. He intends to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
via High Court sentences Sean Quinn snr to 9 weeks in jail – The Irish Times – Fri, Nov 02, 2012.
via High Court sentences Sean Quinn snr to 9 weeks in jail – The Irish Times – Fri, Nov 02, 2012.
Warning of ‘civil unrest’ if Quinn is sent to prison – National News – Independent.ie
A CAMPAIGN group set up to support Sean Quinn and his family have warned of potential “civil unrest” if he goes to jail or falls ill as a result of ongoing legal battles.
The warning by Concerned Irish Citizens (CIC) comes as the High Court rules later today whether the 66-year-old, who has had two heart operations, should be sent to jail for breaking court orders.
“There is civil unrest, but we don’t want it exploding in the wrong way,” said Patricia Gilheany, secretary of CIC which says it condemns any acts of violence and vandalism.
Ms Gilheany said CIC has received reports from many people concerned about the “confirmed signs of trauma, exhaustion and heartbreak” experienced by Mr Quinn and his wife Patricia at a recent rally in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.
“Many have also commented that if Sean Quinn or any of his family drop dead from the sheer pressure and stress that they are being subjected to on a daily basis, there will be very serious consequences for their perpetrators and for those who facilitated this horror,” said Ms Gilheany.
The IBRC (formerly Anglo) has a visible security detail surrounding key bank personnel during court appearances but it does not comment on such matters. Last year, a new chief executive appointed to the Quinn Group had his family car completely destroyed by an arson attack at his home in Co Meath.
Paul O’Brien‘s BMW was completely ruined in the attack, which also caused damage to the front of his home.
CIC said that it has been flooded with calls from people who are “deeply frustrated and outraged” by events surrounding the IBRC whose executives were grilled yesterday by an Oireachtas committee.
Purge
Today’s court hearing centres on orders not to interfere with the family’s €500m-strong international property group.
Earlier this month new lawyers retained by Sean Quinn Snr told the High Court that he wants to purge his contempt, and is willing to co-operate with the former Anglo Irish Bank.
Medical reports are likely to feature strongly in any plea of mitigation should Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne direct that Mr Quinn be sent to jail. His son Sean Quinn Jnr served a three-month sentence at Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison for contempt of court.
Pictured below the Border Mafia
via Warning of ‘civil unrest’ if Quinn is sent to prison – National News – Independent.ie.
via Warning of ‘civil unrest’ if Quinn is sent to prison – National News – Independent.ie.
U-turn as Sean Quinn Snr says he will now help Anglo over €500m property portfolio – Irish, Business – Independent.ie
BANKRUPT businessman Sean Quinn wants to purge his contempt and is willing to co-operate with the former Anglo Irish Bank, the High Court was told.
This morning the former billionaire was due to be sentenced at the High Court for breaking court orders not to interfere with up to €500m worth of properties in the family’s international property group (IPG).
But the hearing was adjourned for two weeks after the IBRC (the former Anglo Irish Bank), said “significant new material” had emerged which required consideration by the courts.
New lawyers for Ireland’s former richest man said that the 66-year-old, who has had two major heart operations, wants to purge his contempt and co-operate with the IBRC.
Mr Quinn, who recently parted with his Dublin legal team, was represented in court today by Belfast human rights law firm, Kevin R Winters, led by Eugene Grant QC.
Mr Grant told the High Court that the new legal team had only been instructed this week and requested time to consider the history of the case and the new evidence submitted by the IBRC.
“My instructions since Tuesday and Wednesday are that since the adjournment of the punitive element there has been co-operation [by Mr Quinn Snr],” said Mr Grant.
Mr Grant said that Sean Quinn Snr, Sean Quinn Jnr and Peter Darragh Quinn had written to the IBRC to explore the potential for mediation with the IBRC.
Mr Grant said that Mr Quinn is now 66 and has had two serious heart operation
He wants to co-operate and purge his contempt,” said Mr Grant who is now also representing Sean Quinn Jnr who has just completed a three-month sentence for contempt of court.
Mr Quinn Jnr, dressed in jeans and a jumper, apologised for his clothing in court – he had just been brought from Mountjoy Prison this morning and had expected to be released last night.
The IBRC consented to a brief adjournment – it wants to consider reasons due to be given by the Supreme Court in Sean Quinn Jnr’s appeal – but the bank said that court orders were not a matter for mediation.
The written judgment is due to be released on Wednesday.
Senior Counsel Paul Gallagher, for the IBRC, said that the new material has unmasked “a very, very disturbing situation” which included:
– The deliberate and “cynical” backdating of employment contracts which contained termination payments of over €30m for members of the Quinn family;
– Continuing breach of court orders and the continuing extraction of monies from the IPG
Mr Gallagher said that Sean Quinn Snr had done “nothing” to reinstate overseas properties to the former Anglo Irish Bank.
Mr Quinn was accompanied in court by his daughter Aoife Quinn and sat beside his son Sean Quinn Jnr.
Other family members who attended the hearing included sons in law Niall McPartland andStephen Kelly as well as Karen Woods, Sean Quinn Jnr’s wife.
High Court Judge Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said it was “prudent” to afford time to the Quinns to deal with and contest the new evidence, including new information that a court order freezing a $500,000 payment to a businesswoman in the Ukraine.
The court heard that “significant new evidence” had been obtained as a result of a new bankruptcy receiver being appointed to Finnanstroy – the Russian company that owns the Quinn family’s $180m Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow – the jewel in the crown of the IPG.
The IBRC said that the documents “demonstrated the continuing control” by the Quinn family, of various companies in their IPG.
Quinns ask for talks to keep dad out of jail
THE daughters of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn have asked the former Anglo Irish Bank to attend 11th hour mediation talks to settle their differences — and avoid their father being sent to jail.
Mr Quinn’s daughters and other family members whose assets have been frozen by court order have privately asked Anglo — now renamed the IBRC — to try to resolve many of the issues in the aggravated dispute in out-of-court talks.
Ciara Quinn, one of Mr Quinn’s five daughters, had previously declared the family would win its “war” with the State-owned lender, which is pursuing her and her siblings for more than €2bn in unpaid loans.
The Quinn family is challenging the legality of the loans in a case due to begin next year.
Mr Quinn and his wife Patricia, whose only son Sean Quinn Jnr is serving a three-month jail sentence for contempt, wept as supporters cheered Ciara Quinn’s apparent declaration of war at a weekend rally in Cavan.
The Quinn daughters and other family members, including Sean Quinn Jnr’s wife Karen Woods, Ciara Quinn’s husband Niall McPartland and Aoife Quinn’s husband Stephen Kelly, face tough sanctions if they do not comply with onerous court orders to disclose their financial affairs.
Members of the Quinn family subject to the wide-ranging freezing orders must disclose all of their assets, all bank accounts and any documentation relating to a scheme to put up to €500m worth of Quinn family assets beyond the IBRC’s reach.
The family is said to be devastated that the IBRC, who would not comment on the proposed talks, would not agree to mediation. But it is unclear how these disclosure orders could be mediated as they are issued by the courts.
Sean Quinn Snr is set to find out on Friday if he will face jail for breaking court orders not to interfere with the family’s international property group (IPG).
The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on an appeal by Sean Quinn Jnr against his imprisonment for contempt of court and both sides may seek a postponement of Sean Quinn Snr’s sentence pending the outcome of the appeal.
Sunday’s rally in Ballyconnell has cemented public support in the border for the Quinn family, but it has attracted condemnation from senior political figures including Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan.
Venomous
Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte, Donegal’s assistant manager Rory Gallagher as well as business people from north and south were among the speakers at the event.
Mr Quinn’s brother Peter Quinn called the media “bastards”, in a speech listing the family’s grievances against Anglo at the event.
Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield and IBRC chairman Alan Dukes also came in for criticism.
Mr Flanagan said the language used by Mr Quinn “belongs in the gutter”.
“Mr Quinn is happy to be seen in public in Northern Ireland with his son (Peter Darragh) who is currently avoiding the sentence handed down to him by a court in the Republic,” said Mr Flanagan.
“Our courts are a fundamental pillar of our democracy and the law must take its course. It is highly unsatisfactory that some people feel that these standards do not apply to them.
via Quinns ask for talks to keep dad out of jail – National News – Independent.ie.
via Quinns ask for talks to keep dad out of jail – National News – Independent.ie.
Quinns challenge to receiver opens
Family members of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn have claimed a receiver appointed over their personal assets by the former Anglo Irish Bank is not independent but biased towards the bank on grounds, including that several of his staff worked at a senior level for the bank before and since its nationalisation.
They are also objecting to requests by receiver Declan Taite of accountancy firm RSMFGS to disclose wide-ranging information about their assets and financial and tax affairs, including their personal email accounts and passowrds and phones or any devices on which information about assets may be stored.
Thhe receiver is engaged in “an excessively voyeuristic intrusion into our personal lives” affecting information such as medical records, family photos, communicaitons with the media and personal communications, they claim.
They were very concerned Mr Taite would pass on such information to the bank which could assist it in defending the family’s forthcoming action aimed at avoiding liability for loans of €2.34 billion, they added.
The family also want the court to discharge Mr Taite’s solicitors, Arthur Cox, alleging that firm is “heavily conflicted” on grounds including its involvement in the restructuring of Quinn companies.
Other concerns included that Cox is acting for the bank in its action against former Anglo head of lending Thomas Browne which would address issues concerning the building up of contract-for-difference positions by Sean Quinn in Anglo, they said.
“Multiple partners” in Arthur Cox had undertaken very significant work for Anglo and it was clear the firm was receiving very substantial work from Anglo and/or its shareholder, the Department of Finance, they said.
The family complained of “overlapping” of senior staff between RSMFGS, Anglo and IBRC. Ian Duffy, former managing partner of RSMFGS,is a former director of Anglo; Anthony Carroll, manager of RSMFGS’ insolvency division since November 2012, was employed as an Anglo assistant manager for five years and David Crotty, assistant manager RSMFGS since January 2011, was previously employed for five years by Anglo/Irish Nationwide Building Society, he said.
Paul Brady, a solicitor with RSMFGS since September 2011, was previously employed by Anglo as a solicitor for two years.
The family also say Mark Breen, an assistant manager with IBRC since September 2011 was previously employed by RSMFGS while Marina Neagu, internal auditor with IBRC since June 2010, was previously employed as an auditor with RSMFGS.
The family said they were unaware of all these matters when they consented to the appointment of Mr Taite three months ago and denied their applciaiton is a bid to derail the receiver’s work.
via Quinns challenge to receiver opens – The Irish Times – Tue, Oct 09, 2012.
via Quinns challenge to receiver opens – The Irish Times – Tue, Oct 09, 2012.
Quinns were to receive millions in severance payments
SEÁN QUINN jnr was involved in trying to put assets beyond the reach of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) right up to the time he was sent to jail, the State-owned bank now alleges.
The bank wants this new evidence to be considered by the Supreme Court in an appeal by Mr Quinn against his incarceration last July by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne for contempt. The appeal opened yesterday before a five-judge court and is to resume today.
Documents retrieved recently from a damaged computer in Moscow include employment contracts for Quinn, three of his siblings, his then fiancee and now wife Karen Woods, and other members of the Quinn family. The contracts stipulate that they each get millions of euros in the event of being laid off by property-holding companies in Russia over which IBRC has mortgages and charges.
The charges were taken out when Anglo Irish Bank, now known as IBRC, issued the Quinn family with loans worth hundreds of millions of euros which the family cannot repay.
The property group over which the bank has charges is worth up to €500 million.
The documents indicate Mr Quinn was to get up to €15 million if his employment was terminated in two companies. His wife was to get €36 million from a number of companies in the event of her employment being terminated, as were Mr Quinn’s siblings Aoife, Ciara and Colette, and Ciara’s husband, Niall McPartland, according to the bank.
Mr Quinn’s cousin, Peter Darragh Quinn, was to receive €26.6 million.
Mr Quinn was allowed out of Mountjoy jail to attend the hearing, which was also attended by his wife and Mr McPartland. His father, Seán Quinn snr – who was found guilty of contempt along with his son in July but who was not jailed – did not attend court.
Mr Quinn jnr was jailed in July for his role in $500,000 being paid to a Ukrainian woman, Larissa Yanez Puga, in contravention of a June 27th, 2011, order from the High Court that the Quinns desist in their efforts to put assets beyond IBRC’s reach.
Mr Quinn has been told he may be held in jail indefinitely until he purges his contempt.
However in his appeal to the Supreme Court h
via Quinns were to receive millions in severance payments – The Irish Times – Wed, Oct 03, 2012.
via Quinns were to receive millions in severance payments – The Irish Times – Wed, Oct 03, 2012.
IBRC secures Quinns’ former Moscow income of €15.5m
CONTROL OF rental income of approximately $20 million (€15.5 million) a year from a Moscow building formerly owned by Seán Quinn’s family has been secured for the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), but further income of up to $15 million (€11.6 million) a year continues to elude the State-owned bank.
An administrator acting for the bank’s interest has managed to get charge of the Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow and is now seeking to establish what happened to rent of approximately $30 million in the period since the bank’s relationship with the Quinns broke down in April 2010.
The bank has not yet managed to assert control over the Ukrania shopping mall in Kiev, Ukraine, or the 750,000sq ft Q Tower in Hyderabad, India.
The buildings form part of an international property portfolio worth approximately €500 million owned by the Quinns and against which Anglo Irish Bank was given security in return for huge loans issued to the family.
Anglo is now part of the IBRC.
In June and July last year, the High Court in Dublin ordered the family to desist in its efforts to put the assets beyond the bank’s reach.
Earlier this year Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne found that Seán Quinn, his son Seán jnr, and his nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, had acted in contempt of this order. Seán Quinn jnr was sent to jail, where he remains. There is a warrant out for Peter Darragh Quinn, who is believed to be in Northern Ireland.
The bank asked that Mr Quinn snr not be jailed so he might assist the bank recover some of the assets.
The courts reopen for the new law term on Monday and a number of hearings in relation to the Quinns are scheduled over the coming weeks.
The bank is seeking to establish the whereabouts of $4.5 million in accumulated rent that was moved from a Quinn family company account in Moscow last year, to an account in a new bank also in the company’s name. It is understood the money is no longer in that second account.
The administrator acting for the bank in Moscow has encountered difficulties in accessing the management records of the company that operates the commercial tower for the period up to his appointment.
The bank is also investigating an €11 million loan that was issued by a bank in India in January against the future income of the Q Tower.
This money is believed to be under the control of a company in the United Arab Emirates.
The bank believes that family members, with seemingly no involvement in the running of the Russian company, were put on its payroll and received $4.3 million gross as a result.
The family could not be contacted for comment last night.
The bank would make no comment.
via IBRC secures Quinns’ former Moscow income of €15.5m – The Irish Times – Sat, Sep 29, 2012.
via IBRC secures Quinns’ former Moscow income of €15.5m – The Irish Times – Sat, Sep 29, 2012.
Quinns: Judge issues contempt warning ‘if anyone attempted to destroy documents’
A HIGH Court judge – dealing with an application in the Sean Quinn bankruptcy case – has issued a warning today on the risks associated with contempt.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton told Sean Quinn’s daughter Brenda Quinn, and her brothers-in-law Niall McPartland and Stephen Kelly, that if anyone was tempted to destroy documents it would be contempt of court.
After hearing that computer memory sticks had been stolen from Kelly’s car the judge said contempt could arise if documents thrown to the bottom of the sea should later be recovered from a lobster pot.
He said the same could apply in relation to any other ‘‘imaginative’’ scheme to dispose of documents.
Judge Charleton allowed law firm Eversheds, who have represented the Quinns in proceedings involving former Anglo Irish Bank, to withdraw from representing them.
It means they will no longer have legal representation, but the judge was yesterday told by Brenda that the family was determined, if necessary, to legally defend themselves.
The Quinns are seeking to avoid liability for loans of €2.88 billion made to various Quinn companies by the bank, now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC.)
Mrs Patricia Quinn, Mr Quinn’s wife, and their five adult children have also brought proceedings in the Commercial Court against IBRC, claiming they are not liable for some €2.35 billion of loans made to Quinn companies due to alleged illegal conduct by the bank in advancing them to support its share price.
Judge Charleton told Ms Quinn, McPartland and Kelly that it was “pretty close to inconceivable” that this case could be mounted without some legal advice.
Asked by the judge what they planned to do next now that they had no legal team, Niall McPartland said they were looking for a bit more time to consider their options. For financial reasons they were not able to fund the litigation going forward and did not object to Eversheds comong off record.
Mr McPartland said they had been compelled by the court to make disclosure of documents, but they were having difficulty with how they were going to pay for these disclosure obligations.
Counsel for a Receiver, who has been appointed over Quinn family assets, told the court the Quinns were claiming that certain documents had been stolen and they were writing to them requesting details of the theft and if there was an electronic backup.
misebogland 