BANKRUPT BUSINESSMAN Seán Quinn has hired solicitors to argue before the Commercial Court later this week that he is entitled to be permitted to personally defend claims by the former Anglo Irish Bank that he has liability for some or all of €2.34 billion loans made to various Quinn companies.
Because Mr Quinn is a bankrupt and because the official assignee in bankruptcy has decided not to represent Mr Quinn in his family’s case against Anglo aimed at avoiding liability for the loans, an issue has to be decided whether Mr Quinn can personally represent himself in that action.
Anglo claims Mr Quinn cannot be represented in the full proceedings given the official assignee’s decision not to participate. The issue will be decided at a hearing on Thursday before Mr Justice Peter Kelly.
Late last month, Mr Quinn appeared before the judge and said he wanted to be permitted personally defend the claims against him. His unexpected appearance came as the judge was preparing to deal with the bank’s application for an order that Mr Quinn be deemed bound by any judgment made in the action. If Mr Quinn is not permitted personally defend, it is expected the bank will press ahead for such orders.
The action by Patricia Quinn and her five adult children is against Anglo (now the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) but the bank previously secured orders joining Mr Quinn and two former senior executives in the Quinn Group – Liam McCaffrey, former Quinn Group finance director, and Dara O’Reilly, chief executive of Quinn Group (NI) Ltd – as third parties to the case.
The bank contends that, if the family succeeds in its claims, they are entitled to avoid liability for the loans on grounds the bank issued the loans for the unlawful purpose of market manipulation, then it should be indemnified by the three in relation to the loans.
The bank has denied such claims and has joined Mr Quinn, Mr O’Reilly and Mr McCaffrey as third parties for the purposes of claiming indemnity against them should the family succeed.
The three, the bank alleges, were central to the management of the Quinn group and an alleged strategy to make investments to fund contract for difference positions in Anglo before the end of 2007.
Yesterday, when the case was mentioned before Mr Justice Kelly, he was told by counsel for Anglo that Mr Quinn has instructed Corrigan Blake solicitors to make arguments on Thursday that he is entitled to personally represent himself in his family’s case.
The law firm was instructed only in relation to that issue, counsel added.
