Seán Quinn jnr says he is not obliged to account for salary

The son of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn has said he does not believe he is obliged to say what he has done with almost €400,000 paid to him over a year by companies in his family’s international property group (IPG).

His wife was advised by lawyers that she was not required to say how she spent €320,297 paid to her, Seán Quinn jnr also told the Commercial Court.

Mr Quinn agreed he was general director finance of a Russian company, Logistika, and had sought and received details of multi-million cash balances of several IPG Russian companies in March 2012.

He had no clue about the whereabouts of rents or other monies paid to those as he dealt with tenant issues and other matters such as snow removal, not accounts, he said.

“I do not have a clue where the money has gone and let me be struck dead as I leave this court if that’s wrong,” he said.

Grey companies

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, had previously alleged the rent monies went off-shore and more recently claimed they went to “grey companies”, he said.

That some of his requests for payment by Russian companies of salaries, bonuses and flights for his family were declined showed that he was not in control of their finances and payments, he said.

Mr Quinn was the last of seven Quinn family members to be cross-examined for IBRC about whether they have fully disclosed all information related to their assets and involvement in IPG companies.

The cross-examination has concluded after five days. The matter has been adjourned by Mr Justice Peter Kelly to allow the sides to prepare legal submissions as to whether the bank is entitled to orders compelling more disclosure.

Mr Quinn said yesterday the IPG companies were managed by Quinn International Property Management before IBRC appointed receivers to Quinn companies in April 2011. After that, he and other family members decided to manage some companies.

Work in Russia

He worked long hours in Russia for IPG companies and did not regard the payment to him of a €399,308 salary over a year between 2011 and 2012 as stripping of assets. He still had some of the salary as well as documents concerning payments out but did not believe he was required to disclose those.

His wife Karen Woods received a salary of €320,297 from IPG companies over a year from July 2011. He believed he and his wife were PAYE workers and were taxed at source on those salaries.

Mr Quinn referred to a “pot” of money from which funds were paid by Senat Legal, a firm based in Dubai, to lawyers who acted for the Quinns in various jurisdictions, but he believed the source of the pot was not a matter he was required to answer at this stage. The bank, he added, was asking him about documents said to have been retrieved from the damaged server of a Russian company but he was recently told there was no such server.