In 2008, Sean Quinn was named by Forbes magazine as Ireland's richest man with an estimated worth of €4.7 billion. With interests in manufacturing, insurance and overseas property he appeared to be at the height of his powers.
In reality the businessman from Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh had already sown the seeds of his own downfall that led to his bankruptcy in 2011.
Between 2006 and July 2008, he made a disastrous €3.2 billion gamble on the share price of Anglo Irish Bank using a financial instrument called Contracts for Difference (CFDs) (dubbed 'weapons of mass destruction' by American investor Warren Buffett)
'I was a fool,' he told the jury during his evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Sean Quinn Jnr, Patricia Quinn & Colette Quinn arriving on the fifth day of the Anglo Irish Bank trial
Despite Anglo's tumbling share price in 2007 and 2008, Sean Quinn was reluctant to give up his CFDs, ever optimistic that the stock would rebound.
By July 2008, the bank was able to force his hand (by this stage Anglo had physical custody of shares in the Quinn Group as collateral on his spiralling debts) and offered loans of €450 million to the Maple Ten to take 10% of his stake as a shareholding in the bank.
€169 million was lent to Sean Quinn's wife Patricia and their five adult children to convert 14% of his CFD position into ordinary shares.
The jury heard Anglo felt compelled to act over concerns that the billionaire's secret stake was the subject of market rumours that encouraged hedge funds to short sell the bank's stock, which in turn destabilised the bank's share price.
Patricia Quinn
Patricia Quinn's brief stint in the witness box provided some colourful evidence. The wife of Sean Quinn Senior said she played no active role in relation to the Quinn Group or in the building up of private wealth for her children.
She told prosecuting counsel Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC that her husband took care of all this. She said she played no role in the CFD deal but agreed that her signatures appear on the documents.
She said "I don't know nothing about CFDs. I didn't know anything about shares, I never met anybody, I was at home looking after the children, I have no involvement with anything here, I'm sorry."
Patricia Quinn arrives at court
The Quinn Children
In 2002, Sean Quinn Snr handed over the reins of the Quinn Group to his 5 adult children, Ciara, Sean, Aoife, Colette and Brenda. In general, their evidence was that they signed documents that were put in front of them, without being aware of their purpose.
Brenda Quinn said she is now aware that she got a €15 million loan to purchase shares in Anglo but in 2008 she had no interaction with Morgan Stanley, the Financial Regulator or lawyers about the deal. Colette Quinn similarly gave evidence she had absolutely no awareness about the purpose of the loans at the time.
Sean Quinn Junior said his family were of the view that the loans were illegal and the security obtained and enforced by the bank was obtained in a fraudulent and illegal manner and should not be enforced This is the subject of an upcoming High Court action for damages against IBRC (formerly Anglo).
