Four former bankers face conspiracy to defraud trial

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

Four former bankers were on trial accused of conspiracy to defraud. The proceedings were reported on 9 June 2016. The report was updated on 10 June 2016.

The prosecution alleged that September 2008 transactions moved money from Anglo Irish Bank through Irish Life and Permanent and back through Irish Life Assurance, presenting €7.2bn as corporate deposits rather than interbank transfers.

Prosecution evidence was that the money should have been excluded from corporate deposits in Anglo's preliminary results, published on 3 December 2008, or accompanied by an explanatory note.

Denis Casey and Peter Fitzpatrick claimed they had no intention of misleading anyone and did not know how Anglo would treat the transactions. The court was told there was no direct evidence that they knew how the transactions would be treated.

Lawyers for John Bowe said he was not the most senior person involved at Anglo 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 prosecution claimed that McAteer authorised the scheme, Bowe was involved in executing it, and the two former Irish Life and Permanent executives must have known how Anglo would treat the transactions.

In an earlier ruling without the jury, Judge Martin Nolan accepted that the authorities were hands on in the arrangements. However, he found that the attitude of the financial regulator and Central Bank could provide mitigation but could not provide a defence.

The report identified the intent behind the transactions as the central issue for the jury.