Four former bankers accused of conspiracy to defraud

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

Four former bankers — Denis Casey, Peter Fitzpatrick, John Bowe and Willie McAteer — were on trial accused of conspiracy to defraud in connection with Anglo Irish Bank transactions. RTÉ’s report was updated on 10 June 2016.

The transactions concerned Anglo’s year-end figures at the end of September 2008. Billions of euro passed from Anglo to Irish Life and Permanent and back through Irish Life Assurance. The prosecution alleged this presented €7.2bn as corporate deposits rather than interbank transfers, misleading readers about the bank’s health. Prosecution evidence was that the money should have been excluded from corporate deposits in the preliminary results published on 3 December 2008, or accompanied by an explanatory note. Intent was the central issue for the jury.

Denis Casey and Peter Fitzpatrick claimed they had no intention of misleading anyone and did not know how Anglo would treat the transactions in its figures. The report said the court was told there was no direct evidence that they knew how the transactions would be treated. The prosecution nevertheless argued that they must have known.

Lawyers for John Bowe said he was not the most senior Anglo person involved and had neither signed off on nor directed the transactions. Lawyers for Willie McAteer argued that the transactions were not dishonest and that he was a knowledgeable bystander rather than an active participant. The report said the court was told that former Anglo chief executive David Drumm was the driver of the transactions. The prosecution alleged that McAteer authorised the scheme and Bowe helped execute it, and said instructions from senior people provided no defence.

In an earlier ruling without the jury present, Judge Martin Nolan accepted that the authorities had been “hands on” in the arrangements. He found that the attitude of the financial regulator and Central Bank could provide mitigation, but could not provide a defence.