Quinn Insurance in Administration

[Declan]

Another member of the vast conspiracy gives his opinion:
Quinn's crocodile tears don't change facts — he's unbelievable
By Matt Cooper
Friday, October 19, 2012
IT WOULD have been hard-hearted not to have felt at least some sympathy for Seán Quinn if you had watched him shed tears on the stage of the protest rally at Ballyconnell in County Cavan last Sunday.
This was what he had been reduced to: once a billionaire, reputedly the richest man on the island, now a bankrupt. The man who felt he could give everything to his children — and didn't he try, in a financial sense at least? — seeing his son languishing in jail, something he now possibly faces himself. But that's enough sympathy. He doesn't deserve any more than a mere thought of it.

So if there are there are tears today when Seán Quinn senior discovers if he is or is not to be sent to jail for contempt shown against previous High Court orders, just remember this: the family have nobody to blame for their problems but themselves.

Take no notice of angry declarations either of the type of the nonsense uttered last Sunday by Quinn's brother Peter (father of Peter junior, too cowardly to face the courts in the Republic of Ireland, the consequences of his contempt). There's likely to be all sorts of bull spoken by Quinn's supporters today, whatever the decision of High Court judge Elizabeth Dunne on jailing him for contempt is. If he's jailed it's likely to be described as a gross injustice. If he's not, some sort of vindication may be claimed, erroneously.

Quinn and his relatively small group of supporters have a tendency to make claims that are outlandish and demonstrably false. They can be summarised along these lines:

1. Quinn ran a perfectly good business until Anglo Irish Bank came along and ruined him.

2. Quinn would have rescued the situation had his businesses not been taken unjustly from him.

3. Quinn was forced unlawfully to take loans from Anglo and to offer his assets as collateral for these illegal loans, making him vulnerable to what eventually happened.

4. Quinn has only acted to protect what is his from the grasp of the State.

5. Quinn is the victim of a giant conspiracy involving the Government, Anglo Irish Bank, the judiciary and the media.

6. There are many others who were worse than him, who seem to be escaping scot-free.

The response can be summarised in this way:

1. Quinn over-expanded his business empire and tried to prop it up improperly by using cash from an insurance business that had been run disastrously and incurred massive losses, way more than €1 billion. That was entirely separate to his gambling on Anglo shares.

2. Quinn's behaviour with the insurance company's cash reserves — as well as the dubious day-to-day business practices — meant he could not be trusted by the regulator to be allowed to continue run it. His plan to use Quinn Insurance profits to rescue the group and repay his debts to Anglo was Walter Mittyesque in its expectations and doomed to failure.

3. Quinn was not forced by anybody to buy shares in Anglo. While Anglo should not have lent him the money to try to rescue the situation when his gambling on the shares went wildly wrong, Quinn willingly took the money and pledged his family's assets, normal collateral for a loan.

4. While Quinn is entitled to argue the legality of the €2.3bn loan used to cover his insane share gamble at Anglo, he has admitted previously the €455m or so borrowed for his property speculation outside of Ireland is a legitimate debt. The bank was entitled to seize control of those assets when the debts could not be repaid. Therefore by disobeying court orders and by putting those assets "beyond the reach" of the bank (and the State as the bank's owner), he has potentially cost all of us.

5. The facts do not bear out Quinn's claim of victimhood. Indeed, they suggest a cynical and disingenuous attempt to mislead people through the uttering of a series of deliberate mistruths.

6. There are many others who deserve to be brought to justice. The basis of the Quinn defence to the contempt charges they have faced, and continue to face, is most interesting. It was best summarised by Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell in the Supreme Court when he said that the argument being put in front of him was the family had set out to double-cross the bank, but had in turn been double-crossed by the agents in Russia and elsewhere that it had used to put its plan into operation. Now the Quinns have claimed that they can't reverse their own wrongful acts, because they are the victims of that double cross, and therefore cannot purge their contempt and return the assets to Anglo.

But should we believe the Quinns when they say that they can't get the money back? One of the reasons why the contempt proceedings were brought was the emergence of proof the Quinns had not just transferred assets after a court order in the summer of 2011, but had deliberately altered and forged documents to make it appear the transfers had occurred prior to that date.

Anglo (or Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) as it likes to be called now) does not accept that the family has lost control of these assets. Indeed, it can't. What would happen if the courts were to accept the Quinn assurances and we were to learn subsequently that it was yet another lie? Nor should we accept all of this nonsense that the Quinns were humble people who only did what they did for the benefit of the people of the border region. "I don't use a mobile phone," Seán Quinn told a business conference in his own four-star Slieve Russell hotel in 2007. "I play cards in a house at night where you have to go out into the front street to go to the toilet... I live a very simple life... I'm not overly shy but I much prefer to just sit back and enjoy what I'm doing, with my two dogs, my Wellington boots on, and dodging about the mountain."

WHAT he didn't tell us what he lived in a 14,700 sq ft mansion — complete with swimming pool, hot tub, jacuzzi, snooker room, putting green and cinema.

Justice Elizabeth Dunne nailed it in the High Court when she said, in response to Quinn's claim in evidence that he ran his empire with honour, that his behaviour was "as far removed from the concept of honour and respectability as can be". She has given reasoned judgements, based on the evidence in front of her, that find the Quinns have acted in "a blatant, dishonest and deceitful manner." She has described their evidence as, among other things, "frankly unbelievable", "completely lacking in credibility", "evasive, less than forthright, obstructive, uncooperative and at times untruthful". Documents presented to the court were found to have been "fabricated or falsified".

So let's summarise things, on the basis of the known facts: Quinn was an outrageous gambler on the stock market. He didn't have enough money to cover his bets, he recklessly used other people's money to do so, including that of the insurance company. He lost his bets but does not want to pay them. He has sought to keep money and assets that are not his, or to do so on behalf of his family. All of us are suffering the financial consequences of his greed.

While none of this changed what Quinn had created or achieved for the border region, particularly the creation of jobs, it did outweigh it. While loyalty to Quinn in the border region was honourable in the early days of his crisis, it should have evaporated as the facts became known. Their misplaced loyalty makes those who still support Quinn' look foolish.

[orangeman]

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 operations.


"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 and Stephen 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.

from the Independent online

[supersarsfields]

Quinn over-expanded his business empire and tried to prop it up improperly by using cash from an insurance business that had been run disastrously and incurred massive losses, way more than €1 billion. That was entirely separate to his gambling on Anglo shares.

Bollix, the Quinn group was and still is profitable. He expanded the business well in the areas that he knew, manufacturing, hospitality, production etc. The issues over the debt into QIL are still standing , splitting a company and getting the taxpayers to pay for the unprofitable side was a master stroke by IBRC. And yet again no one thinks to question that. And considering the Administrators themselves said that QIL was a profitable business after they had reviewed it . Something doesn't stack up alright. And true as you like they aren't happy to allow a public enquiry into the dealings of the administration of QIL. Nor has the Regulator been able to show the legal advise he took when placing it into Administration.

. Quinn's behaviour with the insurance company's cash reserves — as well as the dubious day-to-day business practices — meant he could not be trusted by the regulator to be allowed to continue run it. His plan to use Quinn Insurance profits to rescue the group and repay his debts to Anglo was Walter Mittyesque in its expectations and doomed to failure.

again was Quinn the only one who had problems with his reserves? Was he f$%k. In the first three months of 2010 QIL increased it's CASH (Not property or assets aquired) reserves by £30M. I wonder how much VHI increased their's by over the same timeframe? So QIL were already in the process of "Trading their way out"

3. Quinn was not forced by anybody to buy shares in Anglo. While Anglo should not have lent him the money to try to rescue the situation when his gambling on the shares went wildly wrong, Quinn willingly took the money and pledged his family's assets, normal collateral for a loan.

Debatable here alright. Quinn is saying that Anglo were forcing him to take the loans, I'd take that with a pinch of salt myself. But either way the loans shouldn't have been an option here. And anglo loaned him money against assets that were in the family's name. They only came looking the children to sign share pledges at a later date after the loans were done and tried to get them to sign retrospective documents including documents to say that they had been provided with legal representation, which they hadn't. So to try and say normal collateral is again Bollix. It was not a straight forward loan deal and if that is the level of Matt Cooper's understanding for it then it doesn't say much for his expertise.

4. While Quinn is entitled to argue the legality of the €2.3bn loan used to cover his insane share gamble at Anglo, he has admitted previously the €455m or so borrowed for his property speculation outside of Ireland is a legitimate debt. The bank was entitled to seize control of those assets when the debts could not be repaid. Therefore by disobeying court orders and by putting those assets "beyond the reach" of the bank (and the State as the bank's owner), he has potentially cost all of us.

This is the lovely little jem that always pops up now when it's argued about the loans not been viable. And again has shown up Matt Coopers understanding of the whole process. The assets that the 455M was attached to are already in Anglo's control. None of the assets that the Quinns have moved were in relation to the 455M debts. This is the sad fact that few journalists (Other than Vicent Browne to his credit) want to focus on.

5. The facts do not bear out Quinn's claim of victimhood. Indeed, they suggest a cynical and disingenuous attempt to mislead people through the uttering of a series of deliberate mistruths.

In his opinion. I'd say the targeting of the Quinn family by the irish media from what they paid for a Wedding cake in the good times to what they're wearing now is a cynical and disengenuous attempt by the media to blacken the name of the family and to use him as a figure head for the down fall of Anglo.

6. There are many others who deserve to be brought to justice. The basis of the Quinn defence to the contempt charges they have faced, and continue to face, is most interesting. It was best summarised by Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell in the Supreme Court when he said that the argument being put in front of him was the family had set out to double-cross the bank, but had in turn been double-crossed by the agents in Russia and elsewhere that it had used to put its plan into operation. Now the Quinns have claimed that they can't reverse their own wrongful acts, because they are the victims of that double cross, and therefore cannot purge their contempt and return the assets to Anglo.

Again he starts with one point, that he should be raising about others not getting brought to task over the whole mess. But then just decides to run into another rant against the Quinns rather than the point he actually raised himself. No agenda there then!!!!

So all in all a typical B$llsh%t article that is doing it's best to paint the Quinns in the bad light without once looking at the actions of the other side, which you would imagine would have been valid.

[orangeman]

SS - Did the Quinn family actually sign the retrospective share pledges AFTER the loans were made ? And if they did sign retrospectively, how long after and why did they sign ?

[supersarsfields]

Not sure of the time frames tbh. But they claim to have the proof that the pledges were signed retrospectively. And they didn't consent to signing the documents that said that they had been given Legal representation. Which were sent out by the squeaky clean current management of IBRC. And don't ya know they wouldn't do anything underhand!! And I wonder if that is proven to be true, will members of the current management of IBRC come under scrunity for their procedures? 

[orangeman]

Not sure of the time frames tbh. But they claim to have the proof that the pledges were signed retrospectively. And they didn't consent to signing the documents that said that they had been given Legal representation. Which were sent out by the squeaky clean current management of IBRC. And don't ya know they wouldn't do anything underhand!! And I wonder if that is proven to be true, will members of the current management of IBRC come under scrunity for their procedures?

Wouldn't think so.

Failure to follow proper procedure given all that has gone on with Anglo wouldn't have been the most serious offence to have ever occurred and it would be well down the list.

Eyelid wouldn't even be batted.

[supersarsfields]

AFAIK it's also illegal to try and get legal documents signed retrospectively.

[orangeman]

AFAIK it's also illegal to try and get legal documents signed retrospectively.

Did the Quinns backdate them ?

Or did Anglo back date then ?

[supersarsfields]

I know its getting confusing!! 

On this one Anglo were trying to get the Quinns to sign documents that were backdated, allegedly. In order to say they had received legal advise when signing loan pledges.

[supersarsfields]

Sure if we're quoting Matt cooper...

Tyrone GAA Manager, Mickey Harte, has said that the people of Ireland have had "a selective view of the truth" about the Sean Quinn situation fed to them over the last few years.



Speaking at the Rally in Ballyconnell last Sunday, Mr Harte said he had returned for this Rally for a number of reasons, first of which was to prove to detractors that "I'm not delusional".

"I have come here of my own free will. I have come here because I believe that the Quinn family deserve our support. They have been so supportive of the people over the years," he told the crowd of over 7,000 people to roars of approval.

Mr Harte said that it was clear that people had only been given a "very selective view of what's going on".

"A selective view of the truth if you like. That's what's coming through widespread in the media and I haven't found too many people who will go and dig deeper than that the issues that really matter, that are at the core of this," he said.

"So maybe people who have indulged themselves in other things could now transfer those skills to another place and come up with a lot of other answers as well," he said clearly alluding to some of the national media coverage of the Quinn family some of whom had even sunk to critiquing the clothing worn by the wife of Sean Quinn Jnr, during prison visits to her husband.

The GAA manager also criticised those who had attacked those attending previous Quinn Rallies.

"The people who describe us as something not too nice of people, well maybe it's they have the problem. Maybe they need to look at themselves," he observed.

[Maguire01]

AFAIK it's also illegal to try and get legal documents signed retrospectively.

Eh? I didn't think that's what's meant when the term retrospective is used in this case. My understanding is that they signed a guarantee retrospectively - i.e. a loan was taken out and then a guarantee signed at a later date, not that someone signed something at a later date and backdated it. I may be wrong.

[supersarsfields]

No, they tried to get the children to sign documents that said they received legal advise at the time of the loans. And this was long after the loans were done. The children refused!!

[Tony Baloney]

Won't someone think of the children.

[Declan]

Supreme Court backs ruling that Sean Quinn Jnr committed 'outrageous' contempt

Wednesday October 24 2012
FOUR out of five Supreme Court judges today agreed the High Court was entitled to conclude there was "outrageous" contempt by Sean Quinn Jnr of court orders restraining stripping of assets form the Quinn's international property group (IPG).

There was "ample" evidence to justify the High Court finding "beyond reasonable doubt" that Sean Quinn Jnr was involved in a US$500,000 payment to a Ukrainian woman, Larissa Puga, in contempt of those same orders, and it was entitled to jail him for three months concerning that transaction, Mr Justice Nial Fennelly said when giving the majority 4/1 judgment today.

Dissenting, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman said there was no direct evidence to support the finding of contempt against Quinn Jnr and "no legally recognisable basis" for granting a request by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation to jail him so as to put pressure on his father to reverse asset-stripping measures.

The proceedings in the High Court leading to Quinn Jnr being jailed were in the nature of "a summary criminal trial conducted by a judge sitting alone", he said.

The High Court failed to focus on the specific case made against Quinn Jnr, as opposed to his father and cousin and was not entitled, in the absence of direct evidence of the single charge against him, to lock him up on foot of evidence of a general nature he was "up to no good".

The legal actions between IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank, and the Quinn family are being fought with "extraordinary bitterness" with each side considering the other had perpetrated grave injustices against it, the judge also observed. In those actions, both sides "have questions to answer".

All five judges agreed the High Court was not entitled to jail Qunn Jnr indefinitely in an effort to procure his compliance with some 30 coercive orders aimed at reversing a wide range of asset-stripping measures when there was no finding against him concerning those other measures. The court has set aside almost all of the coercive orders insofar as they relate to Quinn Jnr.

The court today delivered judgments outlining the reasons for its 4/1 ruling last week dismissing the appeal by Quinn Jnr against the High Court finding he acted in contempt arising from the payment to Ms Puga, general director of Quinn Properties Ukraine, on the eve of the bank's takeover of that company.

The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Susan Denham; Mr Justice Donal O'Donnell and Mr Justice Liam McKechnie all agreed with Mr Justice Fennelly.

They dismissed Quinn Jnr's appeal against the finding he was in contempt over the Puga payment and his appeal against the imposition of three months imprisonment for that but set aside her order jailing him indefinitely for failing to comply with the terms of some 30 coercive orders.

The coercive orders were sought by the bank with a view to procuring the reversal of a wide range of measures designed to strip up to $430m assets from the Quinn's international property group so as to put them beyond the reach of IBRC, which is pursuing the Quinn family over some €2.8bn loans.

Mr Justice Hardiman disagreed and said he would have allowed the appeal in its entirety.

Next week, Ms Justice Dunne is due to review whether Mr Quinn, his father and cousin Peter Darragh Quinn have made adequate efforts to purge their contempt. Sean Quinn Jnr was freed from Mountjoy Prison training unit last Friday on expiry of the three-month detention period.

[supersarsfields]

That's it? No reason for Judge Dunne to explain why she came up with the crazy assed conditions attached to the contempt? If I were the Quinns I wouldn't be too happy at having her involved in any of their cases in the future. Bent over to allow Anglo to do what they want regardless of rights. but sure don't mention political influence.