David Drumm jury found transactions were dishonest

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

A Circuit Criminal Court jury found that transactions involving former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm were entered into dishonestly with an intention to mislead. The proceedings were reported on 6 June 2018.

The jury also found that Drumm knew the figures he presented in December 2008 were false, misleading or deceptive. The report said sentencing remained pending; five months he spent in custody outside Boston before agreeing to extradition would be taken into account.

Drumm had admitted authorising transactions totalling €7.2 billion between Anglo, Irish Life and Permanent and Irish Life Assurance in September 2008. He denied acting dishonestly or setting out to commit fraud and said there was nothing dishonest in how the transactions were reported in Anglo’s December 2008 results.

The prosecution claimed the transactions were intended to inflate Anglo’s deposits and deceive investors, depositors and lenders about the bank’s health. Drumm’s lawyers argued that the regulator knew what was happening and that the transactions were carried out openly. Judge Karen O’Connor told jurors that a regulator’s knowledge or inaction could not make unlawful conduct lawful and that necessity was not a defence to the charges.