A nephew of Seán Quinn held all the shares in Russian company Finansstroy, which owned a Moscow tower worth €180m, writes COLM KEENA

THE COURT in Cyprus was told that the Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow was worth $180 million but that the company that owned it was acquired by Peter Quinn, a nephew of Seán Quinn, for €1,000.

The Kutuzoff Tower is owned by Russian company Finansstroy, which is in turn owned by a Cypriot company, Carcer. Carcer is owned by Quinn Building Sweden AB, and this company is owned by Swedish holding company, Quinn Investments Sweden AB.

Anglo issued loans to the Quinn Group that were secured against the shares in all the above companies. According to Anglo Irish executive Richard Woodhouse, the Quinn family is now attacking Anglo’s mortgage over the Kutuzoff Tower. He also said the family had now told the courts that the shares in Carcer held by Quinn Building Sweden AB were held in trust by that company for the Quinn children. He alleged the Quinns had concocted a claim against Finansstroy so as to allow it to be declared bankrupt.

According to Woodhouse, the Moscow building is worth $180 million. Earlier this year, new shares in Finansstroy were issued and allotted to Peter Quinn, first cousin of the five Quinn children. The shares held by Carcer in the Russian company were then cancelled, according to Woodhouse. This meant that Quinn now held all the shares in the Russian company, which, in turn, owned the Moscow tower. He had paid €1,000 for the shares.

Not only did Quinn come to own a company that in turn owned the Moscow office below, but the amount of cash held by Finansstroy at the time was €4.5 million. That cash has since been moved from the Finansstroy account, according to Woodhouse.

In June, an application by Quinn was filed in Russia to have Finansstroy placed into bankruptcy. The application said the company owed $276 million while its assets were worth only $94 million. The Russian company’s debt was to an Irish company, Cranaghan Property Management Ltd. The records in the Companies Registration Office in Dublin show Cranaghan is due to be struck off the register.

The company was incorporated in 2006 and was formerly called Quinn Family Ltd. The most recent annual return for the company is for the period to August 2009 and shows the company was then owned by the Quinn children and Quinn Quarries Ltd.

A further hearing in Moscow in July was told the debt was no longer held by the Irish firm but was now owned by a company called Galfis Overseas Ltd, with an address in Belize.

Woodhouse said a private arbitration court in Russia has made a $100 million award against Finansstroy and in favour of Galfis, pursuant to an arbitration agreement in May 2011. However, Woodhouse said it was his information that neither Galfis nor Finansstroy was at that arbitration hearing where the $100 million decision was made.

He alleged that the debt was part of a scheme by the Quinns and/or their agents, whereby they could denude Carcer of its assets if Anglo took enforcement action.