Anglo Irish Bank’s bid for injunctions to prevent businessman Sean Quinn and his family transferring assets from Swedish companies, which hold the family’s properties in several foreign countries, has been provisionally listed for hearing later this month.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke today provisionally fixed the interlocutory injunction application for hearing on July 13th before High Court in Cork, as he will be sitting there then.
Paul Gallagher SC, for Anglo, said the Quinn side had indicated their affidavits would not be ready until next Thursday. While his side could not raise any issue about that, the bank was anxious to have a hearing of its injunction application the following week.
Counsel asked that the proceedings be mentioned next Friday with a view to a hearing on July 13th. Mr Justice Clarke said he would be in Cork but could hear the application there, subject to approval by the President of the High Court.
Bill Shipsey SC, for the Quinn side, said there was likely to be more than one affidavit from his side and they had to get advices in several jurisdictions. If some of the defendants were challenging jurisdiction, they would indicate that before Friday next, he added.
Mr Justice Clarke adjourned the proceedings for mention next Friday with the interim orders continuing until then. Any motion challenging jurisdiction should also be made returnable before him then to also be provisionally listed for hearing in Cork on July 13th, he said.
In its proceedings, Anglo, owed some €2.8 billion by Quinn interests, claims the Quinn side had set up a “mirror corporate structure” - The Cranaghan Foundation - in a “systematic attempt” to transfer assets to “mirror” Quinn companies for the benefit of the Quinn family, including Sean Quinn’s children and grandchildren.
Such actions were “severely hampering” Anglo’s ability to deal effectively with the property assets and it was concerned those assets may “simply disappear”, Anglo senior executive Richard Woodhouse said.
He claimed Peter Quinn - Mr Quinn’s nephew who managed the family’s international property interests - had moved €4.5 million from a Russian bank account into which rental income on a Moscow office block was paid to meet loan repayments to Anglo.
Anglo is seeking interlocutory orders (to apply pending the outcome of a full legal action) restraining the transfer of assets from Swedish companies holding Quinn family assets in Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and India.
The case is against Sean Quinn; his children; Ciara, Colette, Sean Junior, Brenda, Aoife; his nephew Peter, two of his sons-in-law; Stephen Kelly and Niall McPartland, and two companies; Quinn Investments Sweden AB and Indian Trust AB.
Last Monday, the judge granted interim orders restraining the assets transfer and those orders are continuing.
The Quinn family’s international properties are worth an estimated €500 million and the interim orders effectively freeze the corporate structure of the international property group.
Other court proceedings have been taken in Cyprus, Sweden and Russia over control of the Quinn family’s foreign properties.
The Commercial Court is also dealing with an action by Mrs Patricia Quinn and her children against Anglo in which the Quinn’s claim loans of about €2.34 billion by Anglo to various Quinn companies and Cypriot-registered companies are unenforceable because they were issued to illegally support the Anglo share price.
