MEMBERS OF Seán Quinn’s family breached High Court injunctions granted in June preventing them from asset-stripping their foreign property firms, lawyers for Anglo Irish Bank have claimed.
The family was accused in court yesterday of involvement in “a sinister conspiracy” to put assets in Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, India and Cyprus beyond Anglo’s reach.
In an application case before Mr Justice Clarke for further injunctions, Anglo head of corporate projects Richard Woodhouse said new matters had come to light.
These had not previously been disclosed by the defendants – Mr Quinn and his daughters Ciara, Colette, Brenda and Aoife, his son Sean, his nephew Peter and sons-in-law Stephen Kelly and Niall McPartland, Quinn Investments Sweden and Indian Trust.
Brian Murray SC, with Shane Murphy SC for Anglo, read Mr Woodhouse’s affidavit, which said new information was coming to light on an almost daily basis regarding steps by the defendants to further their conspiracy.
“The lack of candour demonstrates the defendants’ attitude and the covert nature of the scheme they are pursuing,” he said. “I believe the withholding of key facts regarding their conduct confirms Anglo’s concerns regarding their intention to avoid repaying debts due to the bank.”
Anglo is owed €2.8 billion by the Quinn family and Mr Murray told the court the bank was entitled to seek protection from the Irish courts because nine defendants were resident in Ireland and original loan agreements and securities were subject to Irish law.
Steps taken in Sweden, Cyprus, Russia, India and Ukraine had been co-ordinated from Ireland and designed to benefit the defendants, Mr Woodhouse claimed.
These steps demonstrated a conspiracy to unlawfully damage the companies subject to share pledges given in favour of Anglo, and transfer and denude these companies of assets, he said.
Mr Woodhouse said he believed that in the absence of a permanent injunction – pending the trial of the action – the defendants would use all means necessary to protect their own interests and to put the assets beyond the reach of Anglo.
Bill Shipsey SC, appearing with Rossa Fanning, for the Quinns, questioned whether an Irish court was the best place to decide matters relating to companies that were not registered in Ireland and did not have assets here.
There was nothing to prevent Anglo seeking restraints abroad where the companies were located and no explanation had been given as to why this had not happened.
Anglo was not entitled to shop around to see where it would get better protection, said Mr Shipsey. There was a deficit in evidence in Anglo’s application requesting the Irish court to exercise exceptional discretion under EU law, he said.
Judge Clarke said he would decide next week whether to grant further orders in the proceedings.
Anglo said lawsuits in Ukraine over a $80 million shopping centre were likely to be “another limb of the conspiracy” bring orchestrated from Ireland. The bank claimed nine companies were set up in Ukraine in June and some of their shareholders are members of the Quinn family, including Peter Quinn’s sister Claire Maire (Mary) Quinn, Sean Quinn’s sister Patricia McMahon and her husband Thomas, and Sean Quinn’s brother-in-law Seamus McMahon.
Anglo claims the family changed the shareholding of a Russian company, Finansstroy, to put beyond the reach of the bank the $180 million Kutuzoff office block.
Anglo argued that the transfer of control of Finansstroy, which owns an extremely valuable asset as security for debts due to the bank, was made at “an extraordinary discount” and this was a very considerable concern to the bank.
Anglo said the building had been undervalued by $20.8 million in the company’s accounts.
