• Home
  • NAMA property for sale
  • About
  • The Developers
  • The Tranches

NAMA Wine Lake

Click the green link above for latest news and over 2,600 related articles. NAMA – National Asset Management Agency – part of Ireland's response to its banking crisis and property bubble

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« NAMA pledges 20% of its Irish residential portfolio to social housing use
Fine Gael called “LIARS” in metre-high lettering on Grafton Street premises »

Sean Quinn accused of not letting Anglo set foot in his shopping centre

December 22, 2011 by namawinelake

Given Sean Quinn’s involvement in property in the 2000s which led to the former tycoon accumulating a portfolio reportedly worth €500m, and given Sean’s systemic borrower status at Anglo where he now allegedly owes nearly €3bn – and since Anglo is 100% owned by the State, that means Sean owes us nearly 2% of Irish GDP – it is a bit of mystery as to why NAMA did not move to acquire his loans. Arguably he was more a property “investor” rather than a “developer” but when it comes to buying shopping centres, for example, the distinction becomes blurred because if you’re not physically trying to change the configuration of the centre or add an extension, then you’re generally trying to change the mix of tenants and revenue model so as to maximise your income.

Last year, Paddy McKillen found NAMA on his tail despite Paddy’s protestations that he was an investor rather than developer; NAMA in response claimed Paddy’s €2bn+ of loans made him “systemic” even if the loans weren’t for traditional development. But in the case of Sean Quinn, NAMA has sat on its hands. Strange, that.

And so it falls to Anglo, or IBRC as it is now known having merged with Irish Nationwide Building Society, to pursue Sean for the repayment of €2bn+ of loans, reportedly secured against Quinn assets including the Quinn property portfolio. The properties are scattered across at least six countries including the Ukraine, where Anglo is meeting incredible resistance in enforcing its loan securities. Indeed, it is being suggested by local Ukrainian press that “machinations to block them [Quinn group in receivership] from taking control of the properties are being orchestrated not by Ukrainian groups, but by Sean Quinn, an Irish former billionaire, or his family”

And so in the Ukrainian capital,Kiev(or Kyiv) there are at least two Quinn commercial properties which Anglo is seeking to physically take possession of – the Ukraina shopping centre and the Leonardo business centre.

The Ukraina shopping centre (also known as the Shopping Mall Ukraine, or Univermag Ukrayina) is on Peremogy square in central Kiev– pictured here. It has 400,000 sq ft of retail/parking space and houses Ukranian and international retailers – it’s akin to the Jervis shopping centre, it’s not the biggest or swishest of shopping centres. It was redeveloped in the early 2000s and sold to the Quinn group in 2006 reportedly for USD 59m (€45m). It is said to be worth €60m today and is also said to have a annual rent roll of €8m.

The Leonardo business centre – pictured here – is also located in prime central Kiev . It has 300,000 sq ft of office and retail space – there’s a brochure for the building here. It has some top-notch tenants including Reuters and Commerzbank. It was also acquired by Quinn Property in 2006, reportedly for USD 95m (€73m).

Alas for Anglo, it is finding out that Kievis not Dublin. Last month, poor old Robert Dix, formerly of KPMG in Dublin but now chairman of Quinn Finance which we (the State, through Anglo) control, had an open letter to the Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov published in Ukrainian media (print, such as the Kyiv Post and online – see below) making a desperate plea for support in taking possession of the shopping centre. Indeed Quinn Finance seems to have set up a dedicated website – www.univermagukraina.com – complete with thunder and lightening sound effects (I kid you not!) to publicise its campaign to take possession of the shopping centre. It is today reported that it is seeking the assistance of the local police to take possession of the shopping centre since “burly” security guards are sending Anglo’s representatives (or more accurately, representatives of the Quinn group in receivership) away with a flea in their ears.

Transparency International ranks Ukraine as one of the most corrupt countries in the world – it was ranked 134th out of 178 countries in 2010, with a ranking of 1 being least corrupt. In Ukraine you bribe the woman behind the counter at the post office so that she doesn’t steal your parcel, you bribe the policeman so that he doesn’t confiscate your car, you bribe the judge so as to avoid prison. In Ukraine journalists go missing and are found beheaded in the woods, political leaders get poisoned with dioxins which transform matinee idols into the Elephant man, and the latest outrage involves the former prime minister, Yulia Timoshenko who was recently jailed for seven years on corruption charges which the EU says are politically motivated – last week a video emerged showing the ill Timoshenko in what the authorities said was her jail cell, with the attention of seven doctors, a flat screen TV, air-conditioning ensuite bathroom with top of the range shower but Timoshenko protested the video did not show her usual conditions in prison. An Taoiseach Enda Kenny is reported to have raised the subject of Sean Quinn’s Ukrainian properties with current Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich in September – Enda might as well have threatened to invade the Ukraine for all the good it did.

The open letter from Quinn Finance (to which Anglo has appointed receivers) to the Ukrainian prime minister in November 2011

“Dear Mr. Azarov,

The deplorable virus of raidering (sic) has begun attackingUkrainewith new force. The memories of the recent arrogant raidering attacks on business are still very fresh for all of us. Today this malicious practice continues to manifest itself in such cases as the attack on the Kyiv’s legendary shopping mall “Ukraina”.

We, the Swedish company Quinn Holdings Sweden AB, are currently locked in a fight to retain the control over this enterprise, in which we own almost 93 % of the shares. Yet, taking into account the circumstances of our case, we have all grounds to assume that we are in danger of being deprived of our property.

In April of the current year an unfounded lawsuit was brought against Quinn Holdings Sweden AB, which resulted in the attachment of all shares of the shopping mall “Ukraina”, owned by the abovementioned foreign company. The market value of the shares in question amounts to tens of millions of US dollars.

Moreover, an additional lawsuit was filed against Irish Bank Resolution Corporation—an Irish bank, which is owned by the Government of theRepublicofIreland, and which earlier on financed the purchase of the shares of “Ukraina”—the main objective of which is to invalidate the mortgage agreement for the building of the “Ukraina” shopping mall.

As a result of a series of unlawful activities on the part of the former management of the Mall and other persons, numerous obstacles, which make it impossible for us, the owners of almost 93 % of the shares of the “Ukraina” shopping mall, to exercise our lawful rights, have been and continue to be created. Despite having the status of the majority shareholder, Quinn Holdings Sweden AB has been literally stripped off of their power to control the running of the enterprise.

This issue has received extensive media coverage inIreland, including on the premierIrishStatetelevision channel. It is also receiving international media coverage. This week the matter was featured in the Financial Times.

For more than two weeks now the newly appointed acting director of “Ukraina” shopping mall, whose appointment was approved at the general shareholders meeting by both majority and minority shareholders, is unlawfully denied access to his place of work.

The situation has almost reached the point, beyond which the shareholders of “Ukraina” shopping mall risk loosing the control over the enterprise irrevocably. Our efforts to protect our rights and our property continue to be obstructed by outrageously crude actions which systemically violate the law.

With the support of the Irish bank Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which is today state-owned, we have invested considerable financial resources into the shares of the Mall. We assumed all the risks and responsibilities for the shopping mall “Ukraina”, became an example of the growing trust of foreign investors to doing business inUkraine. Tomorrow we can loose (sic) everything. We appeal to you, Mr Prime Minister, with the request to take this matter under your personal control.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Dix,

Board Member,

Quinn Holdings Sweden AB”

UPDATE (1): 5th January, 2012. Colm Keena at the Irish Times today reports that IBRC is “pursuing” Lyndhurst in Belfast and the British Virgin Islands.  The pursuit in Belfast is said to have involved IBRC (formerly Anglo) obtaining an injunction before Christmas preventing Lyndhurst from disposing of its interest in a company that runs the shopping centre. It is further reported that the case is back at the High Court in Belfast today where a continuation of that injunction is to be sought. Meantime in the British Virgin Islands, it is further reported that IBRC is also taking certain legal actions, details of which are not published, in order “to prevent the shopping centre slipping from its grasp” but it is stated at the top of the article that IBRC is trying to establish who is behind the company. Of interest is the claim that “a Quinn family company called Demesne Investments Ltd, with an address in Mr Quinn’s native Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, had an interest in debts due from the operator of the Kiev property [the Ukraina shopping centre] but these appear to have been transferred to Lyndhurst, via an intermediary”

UPDATE (2): 5th January, 2012. The BBC has an extensive report on court proceedings in the High Court in Belfast today where  Mr Justice McCloskey approved the continuation of injunctions against four companies,  Demesne Investments Limited (UK), Innishmore Consultancy Limited (UK), Lyndhurst Development Trading SA (British Virgin Islands) and Galfis Overseas ( Belize) which prevents each of these four companies from dealings in debt relating to the Ukraina shopping centre in Kiev (Kyiv, Ukraine). Inishmore is said by the BBC to have been set up in 2011 and its sole director is Peter Quinn junior, a nephew of Sean Quinn (see here for the map of the Quinn family tree). The suggestion is that Demesne had loan agreements involving the Ukrainian shopping centre and these were assigned to Inishmore in April 2011 and then they were further assigned to Lyndhurst in October 2011. Lyndhurst then, under what appear to be highly suspicious circumstances, obtained a judgment in the Kiev commercial courts on 26th December – IBRC has apparently complained about the judge’s conduct of the case which seems to have been highly irregular. Cutting to the chase, Anglo (IBRC) is seeking control of the Ukrainian shopping centre to help satisfy the €2.8bn that is said to be owed by Sean Quinn to the bank, and on the other hand other companies, some of whom are clouded in the corporate secrecy offered by the British Virgin Islands and Belize, are seeking to take control of the shopping centre. Lastly, it was suggested today by Anglo’s barrister that matters may be brought before the court pointing to fraud, contempt of court and breach of fiduciary duty.

UPDATE (3): 5th January, 2012. Colm Keena has filed a report for the Irish Times in which he says that Anglo (IBRC) has secured a Norwich Pharmacal order  to force the Belize authorities to disclose the identities of those behind Galfis Overseas Limited, and that Anglo is pursuing a similar order against Lyndhurst in Belize – Anglo may well need get Eamon Gilmore involved to deal with the BVI authorities who, after 9/11, have come under increased pressure to reveal beneficial owners of companies allowed register in their secretive jurisdiction. It is reported by Colm that Galfis is pursuing an office block in Moscow, the €140m Kutuzoff Business Centre.

UPDATE: 14th February, 2012. Having appealed a decision by Kiev’s commercial court to a higher court and having last week lost that case, Anglo (or IBRC) has made applications in Dublin’s High Court which could see the Quinns placed behind bars for contempt of court. Anglo is claiming the Quinns have breached an order obtained in Dublin’s High Court last year preventing the Quinns from disposing of, or dealing in, the property assets in their former empire. The claim now by Anglo is that Sean Quinn, his son and his nephew have breached this order and are accordingly in contempt of court. The matter is to be heard in Dublin on 24th February, 2012 according to Dearbhail McDonald at the Independent.

UPDATE: 27th February, 2012.  There will be a hearing in the High Court in Belfast on 27th March 2012 regarding the Kiev properties formerly in the Quinn Property group. In Kiev, it is reported in the Kyiv Post that a commission has been set up to investigate the goings-on in the company which controls the shopping centre, and according to the Kyiv Post quoting the commission “in November 2011, a group of people illegally seized control of the department store” And back in Belfast’s High Court last week, it was reported that a hand-writing expert is now to be brought in to examine claims that Sean Quinn junior’s signature had been forged on a company document in Kiev.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Banks, Developers, NAMA, Non-Irish property, Politics | 13 Comments

13 Responses

  1. on December 23, 2011 at 12:38 am who_shot_the_tiger

    Mr Dix is a whinging assh*le, seemingly incapable of doing his job in a commercial manner. NAMA means nothing abroad. The North Korean styled Zombie republic within a republic actually has to answer to the laws of the land overseas. No political influence here. They need to learn some commercial litigation skills – something that their agents are not used to.


    • on December 23, 2011 at 10:38 am namawinelake

      @WSTT, in this case it looks like Ireland is being robbed blind by corruption in a very corrupt country, Ukraine. Yes back in the mid 2000s there was hope that the Orange Revolution would reform the country which had become more westward looking. So you can understand why Sean Quinn would have bought USD 100m+ in prime assets at the time. The Orange Revolution faded however – Viktor Yushenko (he was the lad who was poisoned, lost the 2004 election but then took office after popular unrest) didn’t deliver the promise of reform – and Ukraine is now back to the bad old days of bribery at every level of society. Or at least that’s what Transparency International says. And the judiciary is regularly criticised for taking bribes.

      In the present case, even though Anglo/IBRC and their receivers in Quinn and Mr Dix own 93% of the Kyiv shopping centre and they have legally installed their own director – Rostislav Levinson, pictured here http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_move/detail/116704/ – in the local company, that director can’t even get access to the building without being turfed out by “burly” security guards.

      And now a British Virgin Islands company has emerged from nowhere claiming the shopping centre owes it €40m. Because it is a BVI company, you won’t be able to find out who owns or directs it. And lo and behold, a Kyiv judge has allowed the claim to be entertained on the back of an admission by a dismissed director of the shopping centre! Colm Keena has been covering the story in the Irish Times and carries an update today

      http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/1223/1224309416282.html

      This comes on the back of recent judicial shenanigans which saw 5 cases involving the shopping centre heard by the same judge when Ukrainian stated practice would be to have the cases dealt with by different judges. The Kyiv Post online newspaper is also closely following the case, http://www.kyivpost.com

      Yes setting up a dedicated website to influence public opinion looks ridiculous from this perspective, but what else can you do, except offer bribes which Anglo can’t legally do. Personally I would be eyeing up the Ukrainian embassy building in Dublin – after all this has become a debt to the Irish state because Anglo is 100% state-owned.

      On a lighter note, Anglo could try to engage this lot who regularly attract large audiences in Ukraine to their protests against all sorts of issues (a personal favorite was Silvio Berlusconi’s spalpeenism) – WARNING, mild female nudity http://femen.livejournal.com/


  2. on December 23, 2011 at 1:04 pm who_shot_the_tiger

    In finding a territory like the Cavan / South Fermanagh border where they are known (along with the republic of Crossmaglen) of taking care of there own, Sean seems to have found his Nirvana.


  3. on December 23, 2011 at 2:30 pm John gallaher

    How’s that report coming along then…….
    “The head of the fraud bureau, Det Chief Supt Martin McLoughlin, retired at the weekend and one of his two superintendents, Pat Collins, has also left the force.”

    http://www.independent.ie/national-news/garda-crisis-as-officers-in-anglo-probe-retire-2967290.html


  4. on December 23, 2011 at 3:38 pm John gallaher

    Let’s use 30billion for est. cost to Irish taxpayer of Anglo.Recovery value of above asset 60million or 0.2%.
    All the political will,unlimited resources available but the two most senior Garda Fraud investigators take early retirement !

    “but what else can you do, except offer bribes which Anglo can’t legally do”

    Charlie-less said the better
    “The Garrett”-one wonders if AIB ever got paid back!
    Reynolds-took sickie at Mahon.
    Bertie-see Charlie above
    This is a “quick and dirty” list could easily fill rest of blog with still prominent Irish businessmen and TD’s,who would thrive in above climate.

    But Sean Quinn absolutely must be prosecuted,persecuted,chased to the ends of the earth,his wife’s private affairs splashed all over the papers.His pension arrangements sneered at.


  5. on December 23, 2011 at 4:04 pm sf ca writer

    This is a great story.
    God forbid Irish money might actually be used to open a hopsital bed or two and maybe provide some health/education services.
    Much better to bandage the carnage of dodgy deals in the Ukraine.
    Aren’t we lucky we have so many economists and experts and consultants to hep us through this mess.
    Long live the mess.
    Long long long time I reckon.
    It is interesting to note that the Irish for corrupt is practically impossible to pronounce.


    • on December 23, 2011 at 4:15 pm namawinelake

      @sf ca,

      “It is interesting to note that the Irish for corrupt is practically impossible to pronounce”

      It’s not “uaisle”, is it? As in “a dhaoine uaisle”?

      But seriously, it’s “truaillithe” isn’t it?

      Or were you not talking in a literal sense when you say it is “practically impossible to pronounce.”

      But having said that, and although this country is by no means perfect, we are relatively speaking an honest and open society.

      https://namawinelake.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/how-corrupt-is-ireland/


  6. on December 23, 2011 at 4:54 pm John gallaher

    Honest open……decisive action to be taken any day now….definitively.
    Hold on lads let’s distract the peasants by throwing a hard working businessman to the lions,worked in the past,and the “medjia” will get behind us.

    “Clandestine” money transactions took place between O’Brien and Lowry in return for the minister’s support, according to Mr Justice Moriarty, the tribunal’s chairman.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/22/irish-minister-accused-collusion-telecoms

    “Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the Dáil the Government will act definitively and decisively on the recommendations of the Moriarty Tribunal.”
    http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0329/moriarty.html


  7. on December 23, 2011 at 4:58 pm sf ca writer

    @nwl
    There is nothing corrupt in losing a bunch of money in a dodgy deal, and elected officials made this debt public, so no corruption there either.
    There seems to be a gap in the English language somewhere between corrupt and criminal.
    That ‘small independent nation with identity’ rant I am always on about…..
    next year, I predict it will become a deafening chorus.
    Great year for you again, I for one really appreciate it.
    As for “truaillithe” I suppose it is a relatively easy word, it just takes practice and the help of a few Donegal policmen.


  8. on January 9, 2012 at 8:30 pm who_shot_the_tiger

    New York Times story shows how the “Mighty Quinn” is running rings around IBRC. Just shows that there are amateurs running the banks:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/business/sean-quinn-and-irelands-boom-and-bust.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Sean%20Quinn&st=cse&scp=1


    • on January 9, 2012 at 9:09 pm namawinelake

      @WSTT, I was reminded that private investigators are not solely at the disposal of Anglo (or IBRC as it is now known, having merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society). Quinn Insurance itself is no stranger to using private investigators, and presumably Sean now has experience of investigators at both ends of the night-vision goggles and microwave dish amplifiers.

      http://www.independent.ie/national-news/insurance-firms-face-prosecution-over-alleged-breaches-of-privacy-2982848.html


  9. on January 9, 2012 at 10:28 pm who_shot_the_tiger

    @NWL, It’s a fascinating contest! “Someone” has really muddied the waters. At the moment he’s really making the IBRC bunch look like gormless morons – little parochial islanders.


  10. on January 10, 2012 at 2:52 pm Sean Quinn Northern Ireland bankruptcy order annulled by Belfast judge « NAMA Wine Lake

    […] But Sean is of considerable interest on here, and his bankruptcy move before Christmas as well the machinations around the shopping centre in Kiev, Ukraine have been covered on here. Given imminent changes in bankruptcy legislation on this side of the […]



Comments are closed.

  • Recent Posts

    • Test – 12 November 2018
    • Farewell from NWL
    • Happy 70th Birthday, Michael
    • Of the Week…
    • Noonan denies IBRC legal fees loan approval to Paddy McKillen was in breach of European Commission commitments
    • Gayle Killilea Dunne asks to be added as notice party in Sean Dunne’s bankruptcy
    • NAMA sues Maria Byrne and Graham Byrne in Dublin’s High Court
    • Johnny Ronan finally wins a court case
  • Recent Comments

    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    Dorothy Jones on Of the Week…
    Sean Bean on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    John Foody on Of the Week…
    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    otto on Of the Week…
    Frank Street on Of the Week…
    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    John Gallaher on Of the Week…
    John Gallaher on Of the Week…
    who_shot_the_tiger on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    Sean Bean on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    otto on Of the Week…
    Brian Flanagan on Of the Week…
    Robert Browne on Gayle Killilea Dunne asks to b…
  • Twitter Updates

    • Funniest case in Irish legal history? 1. ex-Cllr Fred Forsey convicted of RECEIVING a corrupt payment 2. developer… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Really looking forward to this at 9pm tonight, esp the first Garda on the scene. Well worth reading this background… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Tea time on the day the president of the ECB tells us we [in Ireland] are paying more interest on our loans than th… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • “I am grateful for you to refer to Mr Sugarman...on the specific question of Unicredit, responsibility at ECB lies… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • @JMcGuinnessTD now confronts ECB about "the honest whistleblower" @WhistleIRL and his disclosures of liquidity issu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Details, including court documents of class action in New York against Ryanair and CEO Michael O'Leary.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Draghi tells @paulmurphy_TD the ECB doesn't remove govts, the people do, that's democracy. Bet the people will be m… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Wow! Draghi says there is no net interest cost for the Anglo bonds whilst they're held by the Irish central bank. T… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    Follow @namawinelake
  • Click on date for that day’s posts

    December 2011
    M T W T F S S
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    262728293031  
    « Nov   Jan »
  • Blog Stats

    • 5,114,122 hits

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • NAMA Wine Lake
    • Join 1,326 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • NAMA Wine Lake
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: