Quinn family restrained from making changes to foreign firms

BUSINESSMAN SEÁN Quinn and his family were yesterday restrained from making any changes to their international group of companies worth an estimated €500 million until September 9th.

Mr Justice Frank Clarke said he would give his decision on that day on whether the High Court has jurisdiction to deal with an injunction being sought by Anglo Irish Bank against Mr Quinn and other family members.

Anglo argued that because proceedings were initiated in May in the High Court in Dublin, the Irish court is the court where the proceedings should be determined.

Lawyers for the Quinn side say proceedings begun by them in a Cypriot court in June ahead of the injunctive proceedings begun in Dublin make it “the court of first seise” and thus the Irish courts must await a ruling in Cyprus.

Overseas proceedings involving Quinn international property companies will come before a court in Russia tomorrow and a court in Cyprus next Tuesday.

Mr Justice Clarke ordered yesterday that pending his determination on the jurisdictional issue the defendants are restrained from a series of actions making changes to their international companies.

The bank’s case is against Mr Quinn; his children Ciara, Colette, Seán jnr, Brenda and Aoife; his nephew Peter; sons-in-law Stephen Kelly and Niall McPartland; and companies Quinn Investments Sweden AB and Indian Trust AB.

They are prohibited from taking any step to transfer any assets of several named overseas Quinn companies to third parties or facilitating any person or corporate entity to breach share pledges agreed by the family’s international property companies.

They also are prohibited from taking any steps to set up a corporate structure mirroring the corporate structure of the Quinn family’s International Property Group.

Indian Trust, a family-related firm, is restrained from taking any steps relating to purported shareholding or other interest in other Quinn companies abroad.

Mr Justice Clarke will deliver his judgment at the High Court on September 9th. If he decides that the High Court has jurisdiction to deal with the issue, it is expected that his restraining order yesterday will remain in effect until a full hearing, which would probably take place in January 2012.

However, if Mr Justice Clarke refuses to accept jurisdiction, it is likely to result in further extensive legal submissions after the September 9th judgment.

Anglo is owed €2.88 billion by the Quinns, while the family’s international assets in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and India are worth an estimated €500 million.

Earlier this week, counsel for Anglo Shane Murphy SC told the court that recent transactions related to foreign firms were calculated to cause the bank loss of security over significant sums of money.

Aoife Quinn denied in her affidavit that there was activity calculated to interfere with contractual arrangements with the bank.