Quinn faces jail if he continues Anglo debt fight

Bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn could be facing a lengthy jail sentence if he follows through on defiant comments made over the weekend in which he vowed to continue to fight against disputed debts of €2.8bn owed to the former Anglo Irish Bank.

The prospect of the Fermanagh man, once Ireland’s richest individual, going to jail has intensified following remarks by Mr Quinn and members of his family since the High Court ruling on Friday to jail his son and nephew for contempt.

Mr Quinn only escaped being placed behind bars in order to allow him to take steps to comply with orders issued by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne on Jun 26.

His nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, remains on the run after failing to show up in the High Court last Friday, while his son, Seán Quinn Jr, was transferred to the training unit of Mountjoy Prison on Saturday, where he will spend the next three months unless he purges his contempt.

Comments by his father and other family members over the weekend gave no signal that Mr Quinn is prepared to take major steps to unravel a scheme he devised to put assets worth €500m in an international property portfolio beyond the reach of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo).

The Quinns insist they have done everything legally possible to take such assets back under their control. However, lawyers for IBRC maintain the family would rather spend time in prison than lose control of properties which generate €35m annually in rent.

Mr Quinn is coming under increasing financial and personal pressure to comply with High Court orders amid rumours that the issue is splitting his family apart.

Peter Quinn’s non-appearance in court last Friday is regarded as evidence that he was unhappy at being expected to spend time in prison to preserve the family’s ownership of lucrative properties in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Gardaí have been given instructions to arrest him and bring him before the court. However, authorities in the Republic are effectively powerless to take any further measures against the 34-year-old as long as he remains outside the jurisdiction.

His whereabouts remain unknown as he has not shown up at his usual residence at Lisbellaw, Co Fermanagh, in recent days, although it is believed he is somewhere in the North. His family claim they are unaware of his location.

One relative said Peter Quinn had been put “in a very frightening position” by being asked by the courts to do something out side his power.

In an interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday, Seán Quinn Sr revealed the bitter feelings he still harbours towards Anglo.

In a separate statement, the family claimed Ireland was “imprisoning people who have been defrauded of millions by banks whom they have never met or never borrowed a penny from, while the real perpetrators continue to walk free”.

Anglo is understood to be preparing an application to have Mr Quinn’s wife Patricia declared bankrupt over her failure to make repayments on the €3m mortgage taken out on the family’s home in Cavan.

Meanwhile, the family are expected to mount a Supreme Court challenge over the next few days against the original ruling that they have been in contempt of court orders.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said: “The court has made a decision and I think we should all respect the decision of the court. I don’t know the reasons why [Peter Darragh] Quinn didn’t appear in court and hasn’t been available since then.

“I think the law should take its course, the court has made a decision and the law takes its course.”