Bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn has told the High Court he had a very good business built up over decades until he got involved with Anglo Irish Bank, which "wrecked" Ireland, "bullied me out of office" and "made me a criminal in Irish society".
He had "zero" interest in dealing with Anglo Irish Bank after it took over his companies in April 2011, he said.
Any loss to the Irish taxpayer as a result of the Quinn family moving valuable property assets beyond the reach of Anglo Irish bank is "Mickey Mouse" compared to the €5bn loss to the taxpayer as a result of the bank's "rape" of the Quinn group, he added.
He said he was 65 years of age, was never in the High Court before and never involved in any litigation until he got involved with Anglo. Until then, he was in no trouble with anybody and had run a very successful business.
Mr Quinn said he had built up his company from one to about 7,000 employees and, as far as he was concerned, Anglo took it over illegally.
He said he had no interest in queries from Robert Dix of Anglo, who took over Quinn International Property Management. "Why in the name of God would I respond to Mr Dix?" or recognise "somebody sitting in my seat", he said.
He denied a suggestion by Paul Gallagher SC, for Anglo, that he had not responded to queries from Mr Dix in September 2011 about a threat to one of the prize assets in the Quinn international property group because he already knew what was happening in relation that asset, the Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow.
"I'm telling you you're wrong," he said.
After several tetchy exchanges between counsel and Mr Quinn today, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne told Mr Quinn his cross-examination would proceed more smoothly if he directly answered Mr Gallagher's questions.
Mr Quinn said he had thought he had answered the questions directly and reiterated he had handed over to his family the responsibility for the international property assets.
His role was to run the companies, he said. There were about 100 companies in 14 countries, and he would not know the name of 5 per cent of them, he told the court, adding the companies were run professionally by his staff and others..
The examination of Mr Quinn continued today in the hearing of the bank's application for orders for attachment and, if necessary, committal to prison of him, his son Seán Quinn jnr and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn for alleged contempt of court orders of June and July 2011 restraining dissipation of assets in the Quinn family international property group (IPG).
The orders were granted in proceedings where the bank, owed €2.8 billion by Quinn companies, claims the Quinn family was trying to put foreign properties with a value of up to €500 million beyond its reach.
The bank claims it has legitimate charges over those properties, owned via a web of international holding companies. It alleges Seán Quinn snr and Peter Darragh Quinn were the "prime movers" of a "deliberate and deceptive" strategy to strip the Quinn companies of valuable assets.
It has alleged a pattern of the Quinn side withholding information about alleged asset-stripping measures and of misleading the bank via replies to various queries. It claims breach of the orders via an "elaborate and labyrinthine" structure of companies in countries including Ireland, Belize, Russia, India, Cyprus, Ukraine, Sweden and the British Virgin Islands.
In denying the claims, the three have argued various steps to place assets beyond Anglo's reach were carried out prior to the orders.
Among the claims against Seán Quinn snr is that he directed or participated in the assignment of about $130 million (€98 million) worth of loans to a Belize entity for nominal consideration on or after July 20th, 2011. It is also claimed he directed, or participated in, the application of an extortionate interest rate of 30 per cent on loans such as to justify placing three Russian subsidiaries - Finansstroy Investments, Logistica and Red Sector - into self-insolvency.
Further allegations are that Mr Quinn directed or participated in the deliberate backdating of the assignments of the $130 million loans so it would appear they occurred on April 4th 2011 when, Anglo claims, they were executed on or after July 20th 2011.
It is also alleged Seán Quinn was involved in the alleged assignment on or after July 6th, 2011, of a €45.2 million debt to a Northern Ireland company,
Innishmore, controlled by Peter Darragh Quinn, with a view to taking control of a Ukrainian property asset worth about $78 million. The bank claims that assignment was a fraud and was done so as to ensure the debt of the new creditor would take priority over Anglo's debts in relation to an IPG company, Ukrainian-based Univermag.
Seán Quinn, it is also claimed, directed or participated in a process resulting in a payment of $500,000 cash being made from the accounts of Quinn
Properties Ukraine to the personal bank account of of the general director of that company, Janis Puga. It is claimed that payment was made contrary to the interests of Anglo and immediately prior to the Quinns losing control of QPU in late August 2011.