THE WIFE of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn has been ordered to repay a €3 million bank loan after a judge ruled she cannot avoid liability on grounds of being unaware of the loan, and being a homemaker unduly influenced by her husband.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the law since the middle of the 18th century allowed for no presumption of undue influence between a wife and husband. There was also no actual evidence of undue influence, such as bullying behaviour, by Mr Quinn over his wife Patricia and nor was there evidence that she was feeble minded or mentally ill, he said.
The late High Court judge Ms Justice Mella Carroll “eloquently” stated in another case 25 years ago the day was long past when married women could be classified akin to infants and persons of unsound mind, and evade liability by arguing that they were only concerned with minding their house and children, he said.
Other claims by Mrs Quinn of a defence on grounds she had neither read nor understood the loan documents, nor got the benefit of the loan, were also not arguable.
Mrs Quinn “gave no thought to what she was signing” and such negligence disentitled her to make a claim of not understanding what she signed. “What could be more negligent than willy-nilly signing legal documents without any thought to their nature and effect?” A cursory glance at these documents would have made clear “to all but the illiterate” that they related to a borrowing transaction.
On foot of such findings, he ruled that the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, was entitled to summary judgment for €3,059,951, plus costs, against Mrs Quinn, and also refused an application by her counsel Bill Shipsey SC for a stay on his order. Any application for a stay pending an appeal would have to be made to the Supreme Court, he said.
The bank sought the summary judgment order against Mrs Quinn, Greaghrahan, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, over an unpaid loan made to herself and Mr Quinn in late 2006. Summary judgment was previously entered against Mr Quinn.
Mr Quinn has been ordered by the High Court in Belfast to make himself available for a case to be heard on Monday where the bank is contesting the granting of bankruptcy status to him in the North.
In a separate hearing yesterday the Commercial Court agreed to direct a preliminary trial of a key issue in proceedings brought by Mr Quinn’s family, the aim of which is to avoid liability for loans of more than €2.3 billion made by the former Anglo Irish Bank.
Mrs Quinn and her five children – Ciara, Colette, Brenda, Aoife and Seán Quinn jnr – initiated their action earlier this year when the family lost control of the Quinn Group. The family claims the loans were issued for the “illegal objective” of supporting the bank’s share price.
Mr Justice Kelly granted the bank’s application to hold a preliminary trial to determine if the family has the legal standing to make claims of breaches of Market Abuse Regulations. It will be heard next February.
