Courts / Wicklow / Report

Former Anglo exec acquitted of all charges by direction

Summary

Tiarnan O'Mahoney, a former senior Anglo Irish Bank official, was acquitted of all charges by direction at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The 58-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, faced allegations of conspiring to destroy, mutilate, or falsify bank records and conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners regarding bogus non-resident accounts liable for Deposit Interest Retention Tax. These offences were alleged to have occurred between March 2003 and December 2004, involving eight accounts connected to former chief executive Sean FitzPatrick. Judge Martin Nolan directed the jury to acquit O'Mahoney after accepting a defence submission that the prosecution failed to prove a necessary connection between the accused and former assistant manager Aoife Maguire. The judge described the evidence of conspiracy as "too tenuous" and "too remote," stating that a conviction would be perverse. This 21-day trial was a retrial following the Court of Appeal's quashing of O'Mahoney's 2015 conviction in April 2016. The judge noted that while FitzPatrick benefited from the account deletions, the formal evidence linking O'Mahoney to a conspiracy with Maguire was insufficient. O'Mahoney was discharged from the court.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Former Anglo exec acquitted of all charges by direction. 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
• 2017-11-01 Publication

Why: Judge Nolan's direction followed 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 Ms Aoife Maguire, former assistant manager at Anglo Irish Bank. Prosecution account reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

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Read the original CNI report