Property tycoon Sean Quinn has been found in contempt of court by an Irish judge for repeatedly preventing the Irish Banking Resolution Corporation (IBRC) from seizing real estate worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Last year the court ordered Quinn, his son Sean and nephew Peter to stop placing foreign real estate assets worth €500m (£622m) outside the reach of IBRC.
A judge has suggested that Quinn may face jail.
“It will be very difficult to persuade me that there would not be a punitive element as well as a coercive element. Sean Quinn was a witness who was evasive and uncooperative,” said Justice Elizabeth Dunne.
Quinn would be the first major figure in Ireland’s economic collapse to face imprisonment.
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
