Contempt verdict for tycoon’s family

Published on 21/07/2012 00:00

The son and nephew of bankrupt ex-billionaire Sean Quinn have been sentenced to three months’ jail for contempt for trying to hide a €500 million (£390m) property portfolio from the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Sean junior and his cousin Peter Darragh Quinn, who has a warrant out for his arrest after failing to turn up at the High Court in Dublin for the hearing, have been told they can purge the contempt at any time.

Sean senior, once Ireland’s richest man who ran up €2.8 billion debts gambling on the share price of the bust Anglo, clutched a handkerchief and bowed his head as the sentence was delivered. Judge Elizabeth Dunne said the contempt was outrageous. She ruled last month that the three Quinns misled the courts to shift assets as far afield as Ukraine, Russia and Belize. The Quinns admit they owe Anglo – now the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation – €455m but dispute the rest.

They claim the debts were run up through illegal loans as Quinn senior bought Anglo shares to try to recoup stock market losses. The judge said the punitive element of Sean Quinn senior’s sentence was on hold to see what measures he takes to recover assets.