Bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn choked back tears as he told the High Court today of Anglo Irish Bank’s “very underhand” takeover last year of his companies built up with “honesty and integrity”.
Just days before that takeover on April 14th last year, he said he called in "the war cabinet" of himself and three or four directors after hearing Anglo CEO Mike Aynsley say on national radio on March 31st that Quinn companies would not remain in Quinn ownership.
He instructed his nephew to act on legal advice concerning assets in the Quinn international property group (IPG), he said. When signing documents in early April which moved multi-million euro assets beyond the reach of Anglo, he was "very angry and very upset" and of the view "the main thing" was to get them "out of Anglo's control".
Mr Quinn denied any of his actions amounted to a breach of High Court orders made in June and July 2011 restraining dissipation of about €500m worth of assets in the IPG. The claims by Anglo - now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation - of contempt of those orders were "totally untrue".
He began his evidence late yesterday in the continuing hearing of the bank's application for attachment and committal of himself, his son Seán Junior and his nephew Peter Darragh Quuinn over alleged contempt of the 2011 orders. All three deny contempt. He will continue his evidence tomorrow.
Today, clearly upset, Mr Quinn told Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne that at the same time he was travelling to Dublin to meet with the chairman of Anglo on April 14th last year, the bank was sending 70-80 people to the Quinn companies in Derylin where senior workers were removed from their offices and "treated like dogs".
Ir was only in late March 2011 he finally realised the bank was not prepared to reach some consensual agreement with the Quinn side, he said.
While his nephew Peter, whom he called "Petey", had held the view for some time the bank would not work with the Quinn family and discussed those concerns with him from about mid 2010, Mr Quinn said he was "a bit more naive".
His nephew believed, from the time the family lost control of Quinn Direct in March 2010, Anglo was going to take control of the whole business. Peter had the view the €2.34bn loans made by Anglo to the Quinn companies would "always be an issue" and would not be left to one side.
Mr Quinn said he had believed from 2004 to 2011 it would "all come good" with the bank and it would "honour its commitments" and work with the Quinns. He stuck to that view for some time and made every effort to get a consenusal agreement with the bank but was also aware his nephew had taken legal advice concerning foreign property assets of the family.
His concerns about what the bank might do developed in the months up to late March 2011 as meetings with the bank became "less frequent and less positive". He was also concerned when the bank indicated properties of Quinn companies might be sold.
When those sales were referred to and Mr Aynsley went on radio on March 31st 2011 saying the Quinn companies would not remain under Quinn ownership, he experienced "a huge reawakening". There were about three or four Quinn company directors "in house" at the group's offices in Derrylin and, on the morning of Mr Aynsley's "outburst", he called in the "war cabinet".
He told his nephew to put into effect the legal advice he had received and do "whatever should be done" as soon as possible. His nephew later put before him a large number of documents to be signed and he did so in early April 2011.
Mr Quinn said he didn't know exactly what he was signing but signed documents for assigment of loans. He believed some documents were in Russan and Ukrainian and did not understand them but relied on his nephew. "I'm not too good on languages."
Earlier, Mr Quinn's son, Seán Junior, said there was no foundation to the claim of contempt against him. The bank alleges Mr Quinn Junior was involved in a payment of $500,000 allegedly made by Quinn Properties Ukraine (QPU) to Ms Yanis Puga, general director of QPU which owns valuable property in Ukraine.
The bank alleges that payment was sanctioned or agreed at a meeting of Ms Puga, Peter Darragh Quinn and Seán Quinn Junior in Kiev on August 30th 2011, the day before the bank was to take over QPU.
Mr Quinn said he had no involvement with QPU or the payment and rejected suggestions by Shane Murphy SC, for IBRC, his account to the court of his motivation for going to Ukraine on August 30th, or that the circumstances of the alleged payment, was "incredible" in light of documents and correspondence.
Mr Quinn said he did not accept Anglo has legitimate charges over the QPU property or various other properties in the IPG. There was "no love lost" between Anglo and the Quinns, he said. He agreed, while he was general director of a property-owning Russian company, Logistika, for a number of weeks up to July 4th 2011, it was sold for 20,000 roubles (about €500).
The case continues tomorrow.
