Patriarch weeps as he is led off to jail

Ex-billionaire Seán Quinn was last night spending his first night behind bars after a multimillion-euro asset-stripping plot finally caught up with him.

The bankrupt businessman was jailed for nine weeks for a contempt of court and failing to untangle a scheme that put the family’s €500m international property empire beyond the reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Before he was led away, the former cement, insurance, and property tycoon called for investigations into why a receiver was appointed to Quinn Group, which he built from scratch from a £100 loan.

“They took all my money, they took my companies, they took my reputation and they put me in jail, but yet they’ve proven nothing,” he said.

“They haven’t proven this money is owed. They haven’t proven the right to put in the receiver. The whole thing is a charade.”

He cried before waiving his right to a stay out of jail until his appeal is heard in the Supreme Court.

“I’m a very positive person. I like to see things done in time, so if it’s going to happen in a week, a month or six months, it’s as well getting it dealt with.”

Quinn, who is due to be freed on Jan 4, will apply for temporary compassionate leave to attend his granddaughter’s Christening on Dec 22 and for Christmas.

The contempt centres on a High Court order made in Jun and Jul 2011 which told Quinn, his son, and his nephew not to act to put assets in their international property group beyond the reach of Anglo.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne took into account Quinn’s bad health, previous good character, how his enterprise became one of the largest in the country, his close links with the GAA, and his charity work.

But she said Quinn had committed a serious contempt of court which had been nothing short of outrageous, and had been evasive and uncooperative during the hearing, while his evidence was not credible. Ms Justice Dunne acknowledged the proceedings had negatively consumed Quinn’s life.

“In my view, he has only himself to blame,” she said.

Ms Justice Dunne again rejected his evidence that he played no hand, act, or part in a scheme to strip the assets, which the family claim they cannot get back.

Quinn owes Anglo €2.8bn after running up losses through secret stock investments in the bank as its share price collapsed.

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