Quinn to find out if bank wants him jailed

ANALYSIS:Seán Quinn will find out tomorrow in the High Court if the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation wants him to be sent to prison

THE FORMER billionaire Seán Quinn will find out if his nemesis, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, wants him sent to jail when he comes before the High Court tomorrow.

Quinn’s son, Seán junior, will likewise find out what the bank wants in relation to him when the contempt case brought by the State-owned bank comes back before Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne.

In June she found both men guilty of contempt. She made a similar finding against Quinn’s nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn.

When the issue came before her in July she decided to jail Quinn junior and issued a warrant for the arrest of Peter Quinn, who did not attend before the court on that date. She adjourned the issue of a punishment for Quinn senior.

The family has admitted it has sought to put valuable property assets beyond the reach of the bank, but has denied the bank’s charge that it continued to do so after a 2011 order that they desist.

A three-month sentence imposed on Quinn junior, in relation to a transaction involving $500,000, ends tomorrow. However the bank says he has not purged the contempt and also says that it has discovered new evidence which it says shows Quinn misled the court during contempt hearings earlier this year. This new evidence may be presented to Ms Justice Dunne.

The family’s legal team withdrew some months ago as the Quinns, who have had receivers appointed over their personal assets, were not in a position to pay them.

However the family has been in contact with a firm of solicitors in London in relation to arranging legal representation. A query to the family as to whether it will have legal representation tomorrow met with no response last night.

There was a large rally in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on Sunday in support of the Quinn family.

Peter Quinn is believed to be living in Northern Ireland and cannot be extradited as the contempt issue arises from civil proceedings.

In June Ms Justice Dunne found the three men were guilty of an “outrageous contempt” of the High Court. The case involves assets worth hundreds of millions of euro.

The bank says it has security over the assets and that the family owes the bank €2.8 billion. The family is alleging that the bulk of the loans are tainted with illegality as they are linked to a share support scheme for Anglo Irish Bank.