Judge to rule on whether Quinns can cross-examine IBRC

A judge will rule later on an application by members of the family of Seán Quinn for orders permitting them to cross-examine Irish Bank Resolution Corporation special liquidator Kieran Wallace regarding claims they may be hiding up to €500 million in undisclosed assets from the bank.

The Quinns claim Mr Wallace made serious and prejudicial comments in an affidavit, based on claims from unidentified informants, presented in a “peculiar, unorthodox and improper manner” before the Commercial Court last May.

The bank had gone on a “wild goose chase”, they contend.

IBRC opposed the application to cross-examine Mr Wallace as “unreal” in a context where, the bank argued, there was evidence of a scheme to strip substantial assets from the family’s international property group.

At the May 30th hearing, the Commercial Court was told IBRC had obtained discovery orders at the Commercial Court in London and a bankruptcy court in the US on foot of information from two informants.

Disclosure

In the London proceedings, the bank got orders for disclosure of documents by Investec Bank and an employee which IBRC believed would show some €300 million in gold was bought on behalf of the Quinns. But Mr Wallace said no transactions as alleged were identified and the Investec employee had no connection with the Quinn family.

Mr Wallace said email material disclosed by Yahoo UK Ltd relating to an email address contained information that tallied in some respects with original documents supplied by the informants. That led to IBRC applying to the bankruptcy court in Delaware for disclosure orders orders relating to email traffic. It is now seeking the content of various emails.

Last July, the Quinns sought the documents in connection with IBRC’s claims and they want to cross-examine Mr Wallace about various matters in his affidavit.

Moving the application, Ross Aylward said the informants’ claims were put ex parte before the Commercial Court on May 30th without advance notice to the Quinns. IBRC also “tipped off” journalists in advance of the application with the effect the Quinns were subject to “sensationalist” and prejudicial media coverage.

Paul Gallagher SC, for IBRC, said this application ignored the evidence of a scheme to put assets beyond the bank’s reach, with one of the biggest difficulties for his side being to trace assets which the Quinn side contended were gone forever.

Updating the court There was no need to put the Quinns on notice of the May 30th application because there was no issue to determine, as IBRC was just updating the Irish court of developments in the US and UK courts, he said.

The application was made prior to a full hearing of IBRC’s case alleging a conspiracy by members of the family to put assets in the Quinn international property group beyond its reach.