IBRC bank gets time from court to untangle web of firms
THE institution formerly known as Anglo Irish Bank has been given another three weeks breathing space to untangle the complex finances of two eastern European property companies formerly linked to Sean Quinn.
The Belfast court also heard the bank is considering fraud proceedings over recent transactions that could frustrate the lender's ability to get value from a $180m (€140m) Moscow office block formerly owned by the Quinns and a $60m Ukrainian shopping centre.
The Belfast court yesterday granted orders forbidding the two companies that hold the Eastern European properties from selling off the assets before January 26, extending orders originally granted at a midnight sitting on December 23.
Two of the property companies' creditors have also been forbidden from bringing any action over loan agreements linked to the properties in Russia and the Ukraine.
Court orders
The orders were obtained at the behest of the newly-renamed Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which is chasing debts of more than €2.8bn linked to entrepreneur Sean Quinn and his family.
IBRC moved on the Quinn family assets last April, but has encountered serious difficulties extracting value from a €500m international property empire assembled by the family.
Most recently, the courts in the Ukraine upheld a $42.5m judgment obtained by a company called Lyndhurst Development Trading against the Ukrainian property company IBRC has taken control of (Univermag).
IBRC is investigating the ownership of British Virgin Islands-registered Lyndhurst, and Lyndhurst was yesterday forbidden from bringing any action over its loan agreements with Univermag.
The same order was made against Belize-registered Galfis Overseas, which has already begun proceedings to wind up the Russian property company that owns the Moscow tower block.
IBRC has begun legal proceedings to force Galfis to reveal its ownership, but has not yet got a response from the company, it is understood.
- Laura Noonan and Alan Erwin
Irish Independent
