Denis Casey and Peter Fitzpatrick plead not guilty to conspiracy

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

Denis Casey and Peter Fitzpatrick have pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Alongside John Bowe and Willie McAteer, they are charged with conspiring together and with others to mislead investors through a €7.2 billion circular transaction scheme between 1 March and 30 September 2008 to bolster Anglo Irish Bank’s balance sheet.

The proceedings were reported on 11 May 2016. The report covered day 71 of the trial, during closing arguments. Casey was Irish Life & Permanent’s chief executive in 2008 and Fitzpatrick was its finance director.

Úna Ní­ Raifeartaigh SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, argued that their experience made it inconceivable they did not know how Anglo would use the transactions. She expressly conceded that the prosecution was not contending they controlled Anglo’s accounting treatment.

Both men told gardaí they did not know what Anglo would do. Prosecuting counsel told jurors that if they considered this could be true, they had to acquit because it would raise a reasonable doubt about intent.

The prosecutor cited an email of 15 September 2008 in which ILP group treasurer David Gantly told Casey about Anglo’s request for a €5 billion placement to bolster customer deposits. She argued this showed Casey knew the purpose of the transaction.

She said Fitzpatrick told investigating gardaí in 2010 that he authorised the deals because he thought Anglo needed funding to survive. She rejected that explanation, saying the money went around in a circle and provided no real liquidity.

Diarmaid McGuinness SC, defending Bowe, said his client was not a chartered accountant, had never been a director and had neither signed nor directed the transaction. He argued Bowe honestly believed the deposits were legitimate customer deposits and correctly accounted for, and that the State had to prove an intention to mislead.

The trial was continuing before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.