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Sean Quinn case is adjourned at Dublin's High Court Sean Quinn case is adjourned at Dublin's High Court
(35 minutes later)
A hearing to decide whether Sean Quinn and his son have complied with court orders in their ongoing legal battle with an Irish bank has been adjourned.A hearing to decide whether Sean Quinn and his son have complied with court orders in their ongoing legal battle with an Irish bank has been adjourned.
The bankrupt former billionaire - once the richest man in Ireland - and his son, Sean Quinn Jr, attended Thursday's proceedings at Dublin High Court. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said she wanted to consider submissions made by IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank and Sean Quinn, once Ireland's richest man.
The family have been embroiled in a legal battle over the debts they owe the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly the Anglo Irish Bank. Mr Quinn's lawyers earlier appealed to the court not to jail him for contempt.
The hearing is due to resume on Friday. Eugene Grant QC said Mr Quinn said it was his 'impassioned plea' to the court not to jail the 66-year-old.
It remains a possibility that the IBRC could apply to jail Sean Quinn Sr and his son. "This man is bankrupted, forlorn, looking back at a starry career in the context of serious medical problems."
It claims the Quinn family owes it more than two billion euros following the collapse and nationalisation of Anglo Irish bank in 2009. "It is important to stress he is 66 years of age with a totally clear and unblemished record," he said and went on to describe Mr Quinn as 'one of Fermanagh's finest'.
The IBRC is trying to recover the money from their assets, namely their international property portfolio. "A man who, until these affairs with Anglo, stood tall as a leading light in the Celtic Tiger."
At the end of July, Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne ruled that Sean Quinn, his son and his nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, had defied court orders by stripping assets from companies in the Quinn group. Eugene Grant QC said that Mr Quinn believes that IBRC are guilty of a grave injustice and that he was 'fraudulently induced' to borrow money to prop up the Anglo share price.
She said their evidence had been "evasive, incredible and untruthful". Mr Quinn admits taking part in an asset stripping scheme but denies breaching court orders and he is appealing to the Supreme Court the findings of contempt against him.
They were found to have put some of their international property empire, valued at around half a billion euros, beyond the reach of the IBRC. Lawyers for IBRC told the court details of an asset recovery agency they have employed to help recover Quinn property assets in Russia and Ukraine.
Judge Dunne said she had come to the conclusion they would say or do anything to hold onto their companies, mainly in Russia, Ukraine and India, and their rental incomes. An affidavit by IBRC executive Richard Woodhouse, submitted to court, revealed the 'poor'" chances of the bank recovering up to €500m worth of overseas properties.
At the time, Sean Quinn Jnr was sent to jail for three months, leaving his father free to purge his contempt by taking steps to reverse the asset-stripping scheme. The bank said it was approaching "end point" in terms of recovering the assets.
Peter Darragh Quinn did not show up at the July hearing and avoided jail by remaining in Northern Ireland. Shane Murphy SC, for IBRC, told the court the bank continues to be met with 'fraudulent activity and delay' which the bank claims is orchestrated by the Quinn family to prevent it recovering assets in companies based in Russia, Ukraine and India.
Sean Quinn Jr was released from Mountjoy Prison two weeks ago. Mr Murphy said the 'core issue' of the hearing was this was a serious contempt with the object of putting assets beyond the reach of IBRC and the evidence was Mr Quinn had not purged that contempt.
At the height of his success, Sean Quinn Sr was the 12th richest man in the UK and the richest in Ireland, employing thousands, mostly in the previously job-starved cross-border area of Fermanagh and Cavan. "This is a case of civil contempt not criminal contempt' he said, adding that the court was confronted with the decision whether or not 'certain consequences' should follow.
In April 2011, control of his business empire passed into the hands of the IBRC. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne will rule on Friday 2 November on whether to impose a punitive sanction on the 66-year-old businessman.
Later that year, he declared himself bankrupt in a Belfast court, making him the biggest bankrupt in UK history.