David Drumm fails in US bankruptcy plea
David Drumm, the former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, has failed in his bid to be declared bankrupt, with a US judge calling parts of his testimony "outright lies".
"Drumm’s statements to this Court were replete with knowingly false statements, failures to disclose, efforts to misdirect, and outright lies," wrote Judge Frank S Bailey in a judgement issued overnight.
"Such conduct disqualifies a debtor from the privilege of a discharge in our system of bankruptcy."
The case had been taken by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation - formerly Anglo - which is Drumm's largest creditor, with debts of around €9m ($11m).
The case's conclusion comes seven months after the bankruptcy trial began in a Boston court.
Running to 122 pages, the court considered 52 individual items including that IBRC alleged were "knowingly and fraudulently omitted" from his statement of financial affairs, made under oath.
Nine counts concerned transfers to his wife in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $99,911.05, while others concerned the sale of Drumm's cars and the transfer of proceeds, and a loan from his wife deemed to be a simple transfer and not a loan at all, among many other items.
The judge found cause to deny Drumm a bankruptcy discharge in counts 1-20, 22, 24-26, 30, 42, and 47-49 - and, as Plaintiffs need to prove only a single count, Drumm's action was denied by the court.
