BELFAST HIGH COURT has annulled the bankruptcy of Seán Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man, following a successful challenge by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) which was formerly known as Anglo Irish Bank.
RTÉ reports that the court ruled in IBRC’s favour and annulled the bankruptcy. The bank had argued that Quinn’s centre of main interest was in the Republic of Ireland and not in the North as the businessman – who at one stage held substantial shares in the defunct bank – had argued.
Irish Independent legal editor Dearbhail McDonald tweeted from the courtroom that IBRC had also won their costs against Quinn.
He had filed for bankruptcy in early November claiming that he had no option but to do so after he made huge losses on complex share investments – known as contracts for difference – with Anglo Irish.
IBRC has been pursuing Quinn after it took control of his business empire last year. He owes some €2.8 billion to the bank from loans he took out during and towards the end of the economic boom.
In November he was ordered to pay more than €1.6 billion of this money at the Commercial Court in Dublin. He later acknowledged he had made big mistakes during the boom years that contributed to his current troubles but argued: “I was wrong and thousands of others were wrong too”.
Over the weekend, his two daughters were quoted in the New York Times as saying there was a “vendetta” against their father with people “intent on dragging him down”.
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