Fall Of Ireland's Richest Man As Quinn Declares Bankruptcy In Belfast

Once Ireland's richest man, Sean Quinn filed for bankruptcy at Belfast High Court last Friday portraying himself as being virtually broke.

The entrepreneur had amassed a fortune estimated to be over six billion dollars, but saw his business empire crumble over the past three years on the back of massive and secret stock market gambles on the share price of Anglo Irish Bank.

At one stage he owned up to 15% of the entire bank, having gambled that the share value would rise.

Instead, the toxic lender was soon afterwards nationalized wiping out any investment he had made, and leaving him and his companies with crippling debts to Anglo of over €3 billion.

The 64 year old was stripped of control of his business empire in April this year, and is locked in complex legal battles with Anglo, which is now called the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

He concedes he owes around €200m to the bank, but disputes claims that his debts are closer to €2.8 billion.

The notoriously media-shy Quinn gave a TV interview last year in which he pledged to make sure that his family would repay every last cent that they owed.

But now it's clear that they will use every legal avenue open to them to fight tooth and nail to hold onto what remains of their fortune.

There was some surprise that Quinn filed for bankruptcy in Belfast given that he lives in Co. Cavan in the Republic.

However, the bankruptcy laws are significantly more severe in the Republic than they are in the UK, and by filing in Belfast, Quinn could be free to return to business after just 12 months.

In the Republic, he would have had to wait 12 years to work through his bankruptcy.

The IBRC was expected to try to have him declared bankrupt in the Republic in the courts this week.

In a statement, Quinn defended his actions and lashed out at Anglo, the media and others, blaming them for his predicament.

"I was born, reared and worked all my life in County Fermanagh," he said, "It is for this reason that my bankruptcy application was made in Northern Ireland."

"I have done absolutely everything in my power to avoid taking this drastic decision... Anglo, and more recently the Irish Government, are intent on making scapegoats of my family and I... I am certainly not without blame. I am not in the business of pointing fingers or making excuses.

"However, recent history has shown that I, like thousands of others in Ireland, incorrectly relied upon the persons who guided Anglo and who wrongfully sought to portray a 'blue chip' Irish Banking stock.

"My family and I have been subjected to relentless negative media coverage over the past three years. I have been portrayed as a reckless gambler who bet on a bank. I have never sought publicity, nor have I courted the media. On the contrary, I have developed a reputation for avoiding the media glare.

"Sadly, this now seems to have worked very much to my disadvantage, especially when compared with the sophisticated and massively expensive publicity campaign operated for and on behalf of Anglo."

However, the IBRC in its own statement, questioned Mr Quinn's Belfast application.

"The bank is examining the validity of this application for bankruptcy in light of Mr Quinn's residency and extensive business interests and liabilities within the state," the IBRC said.

"The mandate of the IBRC is to recover as much of the debts as possible on behalf of the Irish taxpayer and IBRC will continue to pursue maximum recovery of his debt." In the bankruptcy application, Quinn declares that he has assets of less than £50,000, no income, and a pension which will be worth less than €10,000 a year when he begins to draw it next year.

He said he does not own the 14,700 square foot mansion in which he lives.

The IRBC is currently involved in court cases in Ireland and several European countries including Ukraine Sweden and Cyprus with Mr Quinn's children in relation to very valuable overseas properties.

The bank alleges a conspiracy to put up to €500m in property assets beyond its reach.