CONTEMPT OF court proceedings have been initiated against the bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, his son Seán Quinn jnr, and his nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn.
The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, yesterday filed a motion in the High Court seeking to have the three found in contempt of court for breaches of an injunction preventing them from moving certain assets.
The injunction was issued in July last year by Mr Justice Frank Clarke.
Persons found to be in contempt of court can have their property seized or be committed to prison. Courts usually deal with contempt allegations as a priority issue.
A spokesman for the Quinns said they rejected the allegations being made against them and would defend their position “vigorously”.
The State-owned bank issued a short statement: “This is a matter for the court and is at the court’s discretion. IBRC will not therefore be commenting further on the matter.”
The case is due for mention before Mr Justice Clarke on Friday.
In proceedings initiated by the bank last year, called the conspiracy proceedings, it was alleged the Quinn family was trying to put foreign properties with a value of up to €500 million, on which the bank claims it has legitimate charges, beyond its reach.
The bank has already seized the Quinn Group and the foreign property portfolio is the most valuable remaining asset owned by the family.
The properties are owned by way of a web of international holding companies and were intended to be part of Mr Quinn’s children’s inheritance.
The conspiracy case, which is being heard by Mr Justice Clarke, is currently awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice on a matter of jurisdiction. Meanwhile the injunction protecting the assets remains in place.
The defendants in the conspiracy case are Mr Quinn, his son Seán jnr, and his nephew Peter, as well as his wife, Patricia, daughters Ciara, Colette, Brenda and Aoife, and sons-in-law Stephen Kelly and Niall McPartland.
The contempt motion filed yesterday is only in relation to Mr Quinn, his son and his nephew.
Mr Quinn, formerly Ireland’s richest businessman, was declared a bankrupt in January.
His wife and the couple’s five adult children are currently involved in a mammoth case against the bank, which claims they owe it in excess of €2.8 billion.
Last week, the bank’s spokesman said it was “shocked” by a decision of an appeals court in Kiev which refused to overturn the recognition by a lower court there of a claim from a British Virgin Islands (BVI) company that it was owed $45.2 million by a Ukrainian company, Univermag.
Univermag owns a Kiev shopping centre that is part of the Quinn property portfolio at the heart of the conspiracy case. The shopping centre is worth up to $60 million.
It is not known who owns the BVI company, Lyndhurst Development Trading. IBRC has taken a case in the Caribbean island aimed at forcing its beneficial owner or owners to identify themselves.
The High Court in Belfast has issued an injunction preventing Lyndhurst from trading in any assets it may have that are associated with the Kiev property.
Last month, IBRC initiated proceedings in Belfast alleging that a Northern Ireland company associated with the Quinn family had assigned loans associated with the foreign properties to other parties to the detriment of their creditors.
The other parties are Lyndhurst and a company in Belize, Galfis Overseas Ltd. Galfis has made a claim against a Russian company that owns the Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow, which is worth up to €180 million. IBRC is trying to seize the tower, which is also part of the international Quinn property portfolio.
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