A tale of a hero downed by greedy bankers

To anyone who had casually wandered into Court 6 it seemed, at face value, the cautionary tale of a modern-day folk hero done down by greedy bankers.

Yesterday’s pleadings on behalf of Seán Quinn as he faced possible jail for contempt, portrayed the bankrupt 66-year-old as a man whose mission in life had been to bring jobs and wealth to one of the country’s most deprived areas.

Cast in the role of arch-villain was the corporate entity formerly known as Anglo Irish Bank which, under its new, whiter than white reincarnation, IBRC, has accused the former richest man of Ireland of being involved in a fraudulent scheme to put assets worth around €500m beyond the control of the Irish taxpayer.

In an impassioned and emotional plea that would have tugged at the heartstrings of anyone from the border counties, his barrister Eugene Grant detailed the life story of a Fermanagh lad who made it big against all the odds.

The High Court heard how Mr Quinn left school aged 14 to work on the family farm, from which he extracted gravel — the catalyst for building a global business empire that spanned cement, glass, insurance, and property interests — and perhaps Mr Quinn’s only admission to engaging in dirty business.

Mr Grant noted that Mr Quinn had started off his career with a £100 loan (presumably not from Anglo) which he pointedly observed had been repaid.

Labouring up to 80 hours per week, this “wealth creator” saw the collapse of his 30-year success story coincide with Anglo’s crash.

Compared to Anglo, which was given the luxury of a bailout, Mr Quinn’s group was destroyed as a result of what he claims was the bank’s fraudulent inducement to borrow money to prop up its share price at a time it knew it was about to go into freefall, wiping out 99% of its value.

The crash and consequent legal fallout had seen a man with a “totally honourable reputation and character” now bereft of all economic and financial dignity and running the risk of being stigmatised by a possible jail term.

Accentuating the contrast between the two parties, Mr Grant noted how the Quinn group had paid literally billions of euro in tax without any resort to tax avoidance or offshore activities.

As for his client, he claimed he was in an impossible situation as he was not in a position to unravel a scheme designed to put their assets in eastern Europe beyond Anglo’s control — despite his admission that he was involved in its conception.

“If I could change the past in relation to what has transpired, I would, but this is simply not within my power,” Mr Quinn said in an affidavit.

He outlined how the whole sad story had negatively consumed the lives of his entire family over the past year, with the contempt findings having a “most devastating effect”, particularly the jailing of his son, Seán Jr.

Meanwhile, IBRC indicated it has entered a joint venture agreement with a Russian asset recovery firm — a change of tactic that would suggest the bank is resigned to the fact that the jailing of any member of the Quinn family is unlikely to have the desired result of getting them to reverse their asset-stripping scheme.

Nevertheless, Mr Grant maintained that the bank’s objection to defer any decision to jail his client should be regarded as “overzealous, if not vindictive”.

Although the worldview of the Quinn family might be through a prism of plain black and white, there are others who know that in such cases there are usually more than 50 shades of grey.

Mr Quinn’s world may become that colour today when he finds out if he faces a period of time in jail.