Quinns ‘blatant, dishonest, and deceitful’ in hiding assets

The demise of Seán Quinn from billionaire to bankrupt looks set to sink further as the High Court considers jailing him for contempt.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne ruled that Mr Quinn, his son Seán, and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn acted in “a blatant, dishonest, and deceitful manner” while trying to hide hundreds of millions of euro worth of assets from the former Anglo Irish Bank. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation has until this evening to tell the Quinns whether it wants them punished or coerced to make amends. It previously indicated it wanted a measure of both.

On Friday, the judge will announce if she will jail the men, fine them, require them to remedy the situation, or hand them down a combination of sanctions. She ruled the three had done everything they could to keep assets away from Anglo despite accepting that they owed it €455m.