Last week following the search of Sean Quinn’s home outside Ballyconnell it was reported widely in the media that the arrival of Gardaí was due to fresh complaints from Mannok.

However, a spokesperson for Mannok has told The Impartial Reporter it has “limited engagement” with Gardaí since the abduction of director Kevin Lunney in 2019.

SEE ALSO: Sean Quinn calls home Garda search a ‘fishing expedition’

Criminal investigation

The former billionaire’s mansion was searched by Gardaí as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into criminal activity in Cavan and the wider Border area.

Mr. Quinn called the whole operation a “fishing expedition” and that he was unaware of why they were there.

But in a statement, a Mannok spokesperson said: “Beyond last week’s Garda statement that Gardaí were ‘carrying out an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged criminal activity in Cavan and wider border region’, Mannok has no knowledge of this search or indeed of the prior reported search of Quinnbet premises last September and can only assume gardai are pursuing a line of inquiry.

“Mannok’s main engagement with the Gardai occurred several years ago following Kevin Lunney’s abduction and it has had relatively limited engagement with the Gardai since then beyond occasional updates.”

In a further statement released, Mr. Quinn described the search last Wednesday as “a humiliating experience for him and his family”.

“The Garda gave no reason for the raid. Mr Quinn advises that he has nothing to hide but he is entitled to know why his home was raided.

“Mr. Quinn’s solicitor, Christopher McGettigan, was subsequently informed by the investigating Garda that the raid was following a complaint by members of QIH and QBRC, in other words, as Mr. Quinn states, his former colleagues. The Garda superintendent involved has since said that he knows of no allegations of wrongdoing. Mr. Quinn was working on his own autobiography at the time and ironically the papers removed from him were in connection to that.”

The statement from Mr. Quinn also said he has reported multiple sabotage and fraud and named the individuals responsible for the criminal damage to the Quinn companies over the years to Gardaí as has the local community group, CFL, but all have fallen on deaf ears.

“Many are afraid of the forthcoming RTÉ documentary, and in particular the CEO of Mannok, Liam McCaffrey, has publicly tried to stop it being aired. Mr Quinn believes the full story of the Quinn Group should be told.”

In response to this claim, Mannok’s spokesperson said: “As previously reported Mannok fully respects that editorial decisions are solely a matter for RTE and correspondence in connection with a planned documentary was simply to ensure that safety and security implications were fully considered as part of that editorial decision-making process.

“Those concerns followed prior intimidation and violence including the abduction and torture of Kevin Lunney.”

Writ proceedings

Mr. Quinn’s statement then continued: “The Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim (CFL) community group have issued writ proceedings in the High Court in Belfast against the company directors and Mr. Quinn is confident the truth will come out in those proceedings. The local community has been so supportive of him, and he cannot thank them enough.

“Sean Quinn Senior says he will not be a scapegoat.

“Mr. Quinn further states that, while some people have benefitted significantly from the Quinn group of companies following its sale by the receivers, he is certainly not one of them. Rather, he has sustained significant financial loss in addition to the sadness and regret at the loss of his life’s work, which brought so much benefit to Cavan, Fermanagh and Leitrim.

“Mr. Quinn calls for complete transparency from the state, the Central Bank, the Gardaí, the Commissioner and most of all from his former colleagues in Mannok.

“Everyone will automatically think Quinn was raided and there’s no smoke without fire but he can assure anyone who is willing to listen they are looking in the wrong direction.”