Financial Regulator told names of Maple Ten, court hears
The Anglo trial has heard the Financial Regulator was made aware of the names of the so-called Maple Ten before an allegedly illegal loans for shares deal was completed.
Former Anglo Irish Bank executives Pat Whelan, Willie McAteer and Sean FitzPatrick deny unlawfully providing finance to 16 individuals to invest in Anglo in July 2008.
The jury has been hearing what Pat Whelan told Gardaí about his role in the Maple transaction – the scheme to dilute Cavan businessman Sean Quinn's 29 % secret stake in Anglo over concerns it was destabilising the share price.
According to Anglo's former head of lending in Ireland, it was their Chief Executive David Drumm who more or less orchestrated the plan which involved lending millions to ten of the bank's customers to buy Anglo shares.
He said Anglo was comfortable the deal was in the ordinary course of lending.
Pat Whelan told investigators the Financial Regulator's office was on every day looking for updates and that he overheard Mr Drumm informing the then regulator Pat Neary by phone of some of the names of the Maple Ten investors.
He said it was like the two men had a hotline to each other.
