Brendan Mullin trial hears evidence about €500,000 transfer

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Former Ireland rugby international Brendan Mullin was on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court over allegations involving Bank of Ireland Private Bank. The proceedings were reported on 25 October 2024.

Mullin pleaded not guilty to stealing €500,000 from the bank on 16 December 2011, eight further theft counts involving amounts totalling just over €73,000, one count of deception and five counts of false accounting. The offences were alleged to have occurred between July 2011 and March 2013, when he was the private bank’s managing director.

The prosecution alleged that the €500,000 was stolen during a breakdown in communication within the banking group and ultimately transferred to Spice Holdings. It also alleged that Mullin induced bank workers Paul Gallagher and Nicola Johnston to sign off on the transfer.

Johnston told the trial that on 27 July 2011 Mullin asked her to sign a €500,000 payment authorisation without supporting documents. She said she signed it, but felt uncomfortable and retrieved and cancelled it the next morning.

Defence counsel challenged Johnston’s account, referring to a contemporaneous note by bank finance officer Kim Lloyd. The note said Mullin had signed the authorisation in Lloyd’s presence earlier that day and that Johnston’s signature was already on it by 12.30pm. Johnston maintained her account.

The court heard that €500,000 was repaid to the private bank from Quantum in July 2015. In closing submissions on 31 October 2024, prosecutor Dominic McGinn argued that repayment did not mean a theft had not been committed. The trial continued.

The trial was before Judge Martin Nolan.