Quinns to sue Central Bank and department

The family of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn intend to sue the Department of Finance and the Central Bank over allegedly conspiring with Anglo Irish Bank in advancing €2.34bn unlawful loans to Quinn companies.

The move means the actions of the regulators relating to the loans will now be subject to scrutiny by the courts.

Patricia Quinn and her five children withdrew their application to join the department and Central Bank, in their capacity as regulators, as co-defendants in their action against IBRC, formerly Anglo, denying liability for the loans.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told the Quinns will issue separate proceedings against the department and Central Bank, and will apply to the Commercial Court to have that case fast-tracked.

They will then apply to have the similar factual issues in that new case and their case against Anglo heard together, while the different legal issues arising in both cases will be addressed in the separate cases.

Martin Hayden, for the Quinns, said they were taking this course in light of indications yesterday from Paul Gallagher, for IBRC, that the bank would not object to such similar fact issues being addressed by one judge. That avoided the possibility of different decisions on such issues if they were decided separately, he said.

Mr Justice Kelly earlier noted that if the Quinns’ application to join the regulators to their case against Anglo was refused, they had indicated they might bring a separate action against the regulators which could lead to different decisions on similar facts, a situation the courts discouraged.

Earlier, Mr Gallagher said that while he was representing IBRC special liquidator Kieran Wallace and not the regulators, Mr Wallace was not conceding that the Quinns had any valid claims against the regulators.

In seeking to join the regulators, the Quinns alleged they had conspired with Anglo in its advancing some €2.34bn to Quinn firms from 2007 for the unlawful purpose of propping up its share price.

That alleged conspiracy involved the Department of Finance arranging for documents from Anglo to be “significantly amended” to disguise the true extent of its knowledge about what was happening in relation to the loans, they claimed.

IBRC argued the application was misconceived and, if granted, would fundamentally alter the Quinns’ case against the bank.