Quinn found guilty of contempt of court

Sean Quinn is a crook,honest businessman me arse,he fooled many a folk with his poor ole me act and his carefree attitude to money sure if that was the case he would have owned up to his debts but the weasel that he and his lot are could never accept redponsibility.

Fulton Crown wrote: »

No my friend I have not been taken in...I am merely stating the fact that cases involving huge amounts of money dispersed across many jurisdictions with different languages and regulatory regimes...with batteries of highly paid lawyers on either side...do take time.

I believe that the delays are also caused by lack of manpower and expertise in the corporate fraud investigation area.

I believe that the Quinns will go to jail...and furthermore that the Judge...the excellent Judge Dunne...has made the correct and pragmatic decision at this juncture.

You ..and other posters must realise that a hang em and flog em approach in this case is just not appropriate...

Hmm...and yet the Mahon and similar tribunals were less complicated, had plenty of legal resources and lasted for years and not ONE person went to jail based on their findings, or was even investigated by that matter. I think you are a bit naive to the ways of the law in this country. You got money and influence? No jail. Ordinary working joe? Throw away the key. Can you list how many corrupt politicians or businessmen actually served hard time for their crimes? Because I can certainly tell you of many people who were locked up for not being able to pay the ESB bill or mortgage. I would be stunned beyond belief if any of the Quinns went too jail and also, people arent really having a hang em flog em approach, they just want some justice, and when there has never been a case of a rich Irish banker/TD/developer etc who served time for their crimes, you cant really blame their pessimism now can you..

People are thinking about just this event in isolation and forgetting what lead to this situation, what needs to be remembered is that Sean Quinn created a huge amount of wealth and employment around the border area since the 70's that can still be seen today even if he is no longer in charge of most of it.
When Sean started leveraging assets and borrowing from Anglo, it was a reasonable thing to do at the time, he joined in the 90's-00's along with every other major developer in the country. Up until a few months previous the collapse, it was widely accepted that Anglo was powering the economic boom and their business plan was copied by all the other banks in Ireland so he was not the only one to be taken in. He was then told that they had a liquidity issue and that the fundamentals were still fine but if they didnt get the necessary cash injection right at that time, the bank would go to the wall.. If he invested he would actually make a fortune and they would lend him the money to do it, it would be fine.
Up until that point, Anglo had a good rep and the Irish economy was preceived by most as strong up to the crash, it was generally thought that Anglo would survive it (at least I did), they had been too strong and successful in the past to go out of business. The main point on this is that the entire government fell for the same lie, hence the bank guarantee, mainly because Anglo lied to all these people big time not just Sean Quinn.
So now Sean takes a punt on Anglo,it goes tits up and he is left way in the red. His major cash-cow (Quinn Insurance) has been taken away from him meaning he has no legitimate way to repay these loans. In fairness, the fact that he used Quinn Insurance as a guarantee for less viable businesses and to buy Anglo stocks was bad business but the way the property market was at the time they were set-up, made these businesses and decisions look viable, essential even.
Now the property crash goes into freefall which gaurantees their demise and the demise of Anglo.
So at this stage Sean has gone from Billionaire to in the red big style, almost all of his businesses, all in Ireland and Britain anyway, had been taken from him and he now has Anglo at his door hunting him out of it for "their" money back. This is the same institution that screwed him over just months previous. If in his shoes, I would personally feel bitter about the treatment by Anglo, the fact that the government fell for the same lie but they personally were allowed keep their huge salaries and pensions along with the property developers that have been propped up by NAMA and of course the majority of bankers got away with it too.

He is now only left with control of businesses and properties outside of the EU, put yourself in his shoes at this stage. Would you just give up all control of the business empire that you personally built to a wreckless bank/ government that has already taken a large chunk of it? I am aware that it is our taxes that is now footing the bill but that is because the government made bank dept into soverign dept in 2008, this was their choice, not his. The German and French banks that lent to Anglo should be footing this bill so from Sean Quinn's perspective, the Irish taxpayer is been used to get them out of the mess they got themselves into and to gain the moral high-ground and nothing more, the money he lost was swindled from him by a corrupt institution and government, I would definitely do the same thing. His bad decision with Anglo definitely played a huge part in his downfall and was wreckless but I really don't think that this is enough to brand him in the same category as Sean Fitz and David Drumm who knew the state of the bank but still conned both the government and the shareholders into investing.
Before you judge what Sean Quinn has done, here is a very similar moral question for a lay person:
If you were missold a mortgage to buy a property and it is now worth only half of what you had paid for it, it was repocessed by the bank, you have a second property outside of Europe, would you feel compelled to sell your second property to cover the difference in what the property was worth pre boom to post to pay back the bank?

if I could get away with it, no way would I pay it back and i think most people would do the same in his shoes
rant over..

paddy147 wrote: »

The man is so sly and sleazy that he even tried to claim back his daughters wedding costs as a "marketing event" for the hotel where the wedding took place.

FFS how much more low can this man and his family go on a bid to keep and hide money from the state??

wonder did he ever pull that stroke before. Hope revenue looks into it. And he told Tommie Gorman of RTE that he is just a simple man !

Ramshackled wrote: »

People are thinking about just this event in isolation and forgetting what lead to this situation, what needs to be remembered is that Sean Quinn created a huge amount of wealth and employment around the border area since the 70's that can still be seen today even if he is no longer in charge of most of it.
When Sean started leveraging assets and borrowing from Anglo, it was a reasonable thing to do at the time, he joined in the 90's-00's along with every other major developer in the country. Up until a few months previous the collapse, it was widely accepted that Anglo was powering the economic boom and their business plan was copied by all the other banks in Ireland so he was not the only one to be taken in. He was then told that they had a liquidity issue and that the fundamentals were still fine but if they didnt get the necessary cash injection right at that time, the bank would go to the wall.. If he invested he would actually make a fortune and they would lend him the money to do it, it would be fine.
Up until that point, Anglo had a good rep and the Irish economy was preceived by most as strong up to the crash, it was generally thought that Anglo would survive it (at least I did), they had been too strong and successful in the past to go out of business. The main point on this is that the entire government fell for the same lie, hence the bank guarantee, mainly because Anglo lied to all these people big time not just Sean Quinn.
So now Sean takes a punt on Anglo,it goes tits up and he is left way in the red. His major cash-cow (Quinn Insurance) has been taken away from him meaning he has no legitimate way to repay these loans. In fairness, the fact that he used Quinn Insurance as a guarantee for less viable businesses and to buy Anglo stocks was bad business but the way the property market was at the time they were set-up, made these businesses and decisions look viable, essential even.
Now the property crash goes into freefall which gaurantees their demise and the demise of Anglo.
So at this stage Sean has gone from Billionaire to in the red big style, almost all of his businesses, all in Ireland and Britain anyway, had been taken from him and he now has Anglo at his door hunting him out of it for "their" money back. This is the same institution that screwed him over just months previous. If in his shoes, I would personally feel bitter about the treatment by Anglo, the fact that the government fell for the same lie but they personally were allowed keep their huge salaries and pensions along with the property developers that have been propped up by NAMA and of course the majority of bankers got away with it too.

He is now only left with control of businesses and properties outside of the EU, put yourself in his shoes at this stage. Would you just give up all control of the business empire that you personally built to a wreckless bank/ government that has already taken a large chunk of it? I am aware that it is our taxes that is now footing the bill but that is because the government made bank dept into soverign dept in 2008, this was their choice, not his. The German and French banks that lent to Anglo should be footing this bill so from Sean Quinn's perspective, the Irish taxpayer is been used to get them out of the mess they got themselves into and to gain the moral high-ground and nothing more, the money he lost was swindled from him by a corrupt institution and government, I would definitely do the same thing. His bad decision with Anglo definitely played a huge part in his downfall and was wreckless but I really don't think that this is enough to brand him in the same category as Sean Fitz and David Drumm who knew the state of the bank but still conned both the government and the shareholders into investing.
Before you judge what Sean Quinn has done, here is a very similar moral question for a lay person:
If you were missold a mortgage to buy a property and it is now worth only half of what you had paid for it, it was repocessed by the bank, you have a second property outside of Europe, would you feel compelled to sell your second property to cover the difference in what the property was worth pre boom to post to pay back the bank?

if I could get away with it, no way would I pay it back and i think most people would do the same in his shoes
rant over..

Well Sean Quinn, for all his reputed toughness as a businessman was naive in the extreme to think he could buy into property in Eastern Europe and run it in a way that allowed him to retain control. Anyone with a titter of wit well knows that the landscape over there is an absolute quagmire of deceit and criminal corruption controlled by gangsters who could run courses for the Mafia.

Meetings in Kiev and elsewhere with Russian aficionadas carry high risk status starting with the distinct possibility of total disappearance (and I don't mean voluntarily) of the bold Sean and his sons/supporters. They just have no clue whatever as to what they are dealing with over there.
The corruption is endemic and all pervasive throughout society embracing government, police, judiciary and the business world. Innocence and ignorance are the only qualities that would deliver you to that reality.

Dionysius2 wrote: »

Well I think he's an honest man corrupted by circumstances.

That's the impression I get.

While I've never met Sean Quinn himself, I did work with one of his daughters and found her to be absolutely down-to-earth and very pleasant. I also met another one of his daughters, again totally sound.

Just my two cents.

Sean Quinn must be stopped and put back in his place (hopefully jail!) He wants our children to pay for his massive gambling debts - why does he think he can get away with it. I'm getting f**king angrier everyday, knowing he's strutting around the place a free man, in full knowledge of the crimes he's committed on us hard working tax-payers.
We the people should all get behind Anglo Irish. They may have made some mistakes in the past, but they're on the right track now and are really redeeming themselves. For that, you have to salute them.

I say have their Russian assets stripped and then send them there where they will be found months from now in a shallow grave.

He's not even Irish born in the North why stick up for the corrupt xxxxxer

Hootanany wrote: »

He's not even Irish born in the North why stick up for the corrupt xxxxxer

How dare you. How fúckin dare you. Am not defending Sean Quinn, but every nationalist this side of the border who are Irish through and through.

Paddy De Plasterer wrote: »

The Quinns use the border as a bolt hole, just like the certain gunmen used to. Only this time Quinns hide up North.

That would be the one advantage of having a border...

The border choked all business in the region for decades. The only business there was fuel, cigarettes and the like of Sean Quinn. The Dáil neglected anyone that far north.