Willie McAteer and three bankers plead not guilty to conspiracy

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

Willie McAteer, Denis Casey, Peter Fitzpatrick and John Bowe have pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four charges of conspiring to mislead investors.

The proceedings were reported on 21 January 2016. The trial continued that day.

The charges allege that, between 1 March and 30 September 2008, the four conspired together and with others to mislead investors through financial transactions that made Anglo Irish Bank appear €7.2 billion more valuable than it was.

Former Anglo director of treasury Matt Cullen told the court that the bank sought emergency Central Bank funding while transactions involving IL&P were being arranged. He said emergency funding of “€1.2 or €1.3 or €1.4 billion” was released so the bank could make ordinary payments, and was not connected in any way with the IL&P transactions.

The jury was sent home until the following Monday at the earliest after a legal issue arose. The trial was continuing before Judge Martin Nolan and was scheduled to run for up to five months.