Family's asset moves were 'reactive' to bank's steps

ACCORDING TO Peter Darragh Quinn, the efforts by the Quinn family to put assets beyond the reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank took place on a number of different levels.

The nephew of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn has said he was not the mastermind behind the effort, and that the family’s moves were mainly “reactive” to whatever the State-owned bank did. He said he was involved in moves relating to properties in Russia and Ukraine, while Aoife Quinn was involved “at a higher level”, by which he meant events in Cyprus and Sweden.

The €500 million property portfolio owned by the five Quinn children was held by way of an international structure of companies headed by holding companies in Sweden. These owned Cypriot companies which owned companies in Russia whose main assets were valuable properties there. The bank had securities against the companies in the group.

When Anglo, now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, went to appoint a share receiver over the property group, this was resisted by the Quinns in the Swedish and Cypriot courts. Around this time, one of Seán Quinn’s children, Aoife Quinn, was appointed to the board of some of the Cypriot companies, though her appointment was not registered or brought to the attention of the Cypriot courts.

Ms Quinn, acting on behalf of the Cypriot companies, set about withdrawing the Cypriot companies’ shareholdings in the Russian property companies.

In the case of one company, Red Sector, the move had the effect of leaving her husband, Stephen Kelly, as sole shareholder. Kelly already had a 1 per cent shareholding, and when the Cypriot company’s shares were withdrawn, he ended up owning Red Sector. This meant the Russian property was now owned by Mr Kelly and not the companies over which the bank had been in the process of asserting control.

The document withdrawing the Cypriot firm’s shareholding was received by Mr Kelly from his wife on June 21st, 2011 – six days before Mr Justice Frank Clarke ordered the family to cease efforts to put assets beyond Anglo’s reach. The registration of the change occurred on July 8th, though when the application to have the change registered was made is not known.

Neither Mr Kelly or Ms Quinn have been charged with contempt.