Courts / Dublin / Report

Witness 'uneasy' about request to transfer €500k owed to BOI elsewhere, trial of ex-rugby star hears

Date
2024-10-29

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

During a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial, a witness, Peter Gray, former head of financial control at New Ireland Life Assurance, testified that former Ireland rugby star Brendan Mullin, then managing director of Bank of Ireland Private Bank, requested in August 2011 that a €500,000 payment owed to the bank be transferred to a client account, an action Gray described as "unusual" and "not standard practice." Gray explained that the payment had initially been transferred to the private bank in July 2011 and returned to New Ireland within days, raising suspicions. In a phone conversation, Mullin suggested two possible client accounts, one possibly Spice Holdings, and claimed the transfer would be "administratively more simple." Gray noted his unease and recorded the conversation, later noting that the bank's compliance and senior management questioned the legitimacy of Spice Holdings and ultimately directed that no payment be made to a client account.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Witness 'uneasy' about request to transfer €500k owed to BOI elsewhere, trial of ex-rugby star hears. Procedural stage: trial

When:

August 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
July 2011 Incident
October 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
October 24, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
December 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
March 2013 Incident
March 20, 2013 Incident
March 25 Hearing Or Sentence
April 2 Hearing Or Sentence
April 5 Hearing Or Sentence
December 16, 2011 Other
2011 and 2013 Other
2024-10-29 Publication

Why: "I do recall he said the reason was it would be administratively more simple for private banking if the money was paid in this way," Mr Gray said. CNI source report