Courts / Wicklow / Report

Judge to direct acquittal in trial of former Anglo exec on conspiracy charges

Summary

Judge Martin Nolan of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court intends to direct the jury to acquit Tiarnan O'Mahoney, a former chief operations officer at Anglo Irish Bank, of all charges. The 58-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, was accused of conspiring to destroy, mutilate, or falsify books and documents relating to the bank's property or affairs, and conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners regarding bogus non-resident accounts potentially liable for Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT). The alleged offences, involving eight accounts connected to former chief executive Sean FitzPatrick, occurred between March 2003 and December 2004. This retrial followed the Court of Appeal quashing O'Mahoney's 2015 conviction in April 2016. Judge Nolan ruled the prosecution's case was "too tenuous" and "too remote" to go to the jury, stating that a conviction would be "perverse" due to a lack of formal evidence linking O'Mahoney to Aoife Maguire, a former assistant manager. Although the judge noted O'Mahoney had insight into the accounts and was instrumental in removing certain staff from the DIRT investigation team, he found the evidence insufficient to prove conspiracy. The judge described Maguire as a "mere conduit" for more powerful voices and acknowledged that FitzPatrick benefited from the account deletions to trade Anglo shares during a prohibited period. The judge praised the Garda investigation but concluded that the jury would be asked to speculate to fill gaps in the evidence. The formal acquittal is scheduled for the following day.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Judge to direct acquittal in trial of former Anglo exec on conspiracy charges. Charges or matters: conspiring to destroy, mutilate or falsify books and documents affecting or relating to the property or affairs of Anglo Irish Bank Corp PLC; conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners, who were conducting an investigation into bogus non-resident accounts which may have been liable for Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT). Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• March 25, 2003 Incident
• December 31, 2004 Incident
• November 2003 Hearing Or Sentence
• April 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2017-10-31 Publication

Why: Judge Nolan's ruling came after a submission from the defence arguing that the case should not go before the jury because the prosecution had not proved the necessary connection between the accused and Aoife Maguire, former assistant manager at Anglo Irish Bank. Prosecution account reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

Related court reports

• Digital marketing worker charged with assault on then-girlfriend gets bail
• 'I hope she dies': life for controlling husband who stabbed wife 14 times and recorded her 'last throes'
• Wine bottle attacker sees jail term suspended on appeal
• 'Devoid of any human decency': gang rapists get combined 43 years
• Gang rape victim tells court how 'three complete strangers' preyed on her
• Three men convicted of raping woman who was recorded repeatedly saying 'no'

Read the original CNI report