Here is a man who repaid €3.1 billion of the €3.5 billion he owed the Irish taxpayer, but was still expected to pay off the balance and found himself in a modern-day version of debt servitude that ultimately forced him into bankruptcy.
It is a salutary tale. Quinlan told his UK bankruptcy trustees last October that he was made an example of because he was Nama’s biggest debtor. The former financier and property tycoon says he was misled from the start by Nama.
Having been promised a smooth ride in 2014, he was told that if he answered “five questions” he would be let out of Nama and his debts forgiven. Instead, he was asked to pay back all the money he owed the taxpayer. He then found himself dragged in front of the banking inquiry in 2016.
Derek desperately wanted to tell the members of the commission the truth about Nama and their ridiculous insistence that he pay his debt. Instead, he was gagged by Nama. [ Derek Quinlan’s Nama battle: ‘I am destined to spend the rest of my life under Nama’s shadow’ Opens in new window ] And it just got worse.
It appears that Nama – currently on track to wind up next year with a surplus of €5.2 billion – didn’t know what it was doing and made a complete mess of selling his assets. It sold all of them – including the paintings – at the wrong time in the market, Quinlan claims.
Nama would have made “hundreds of millions more if they had waited”. Not only would this have covered all of Quinlan’s debt, but it.
