By Sarah-Jane Murphy
A statement issued to the Irish Stock Exchange by Anglo Irish Bank, and signed by David Drumm, said customer funding had increased by €1.9bn compared with the previous year, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
A former finance manager at Anglo Irish Bank, Dermot Kieran, told Mr Drumm's conspiracy to defraud trial that Anglo's year end statement was released to the stock exchange on December 3, 2008, and recorded customer funding at €51.5bn.
Mr Drumm (pictured below), the bank's former CEO, accepts that multi-million euro transactions took place in between Anglo and Irish Life & Permanent (ILP) in 2008, but disputes that they were fraudulent or dishonest.
Today, Mr Kieran told Sinead McGrath BL, prosecuting, that he first became aware of Anglo's transactions with Irish Life and Permanent some time after they happened, prior to the release of the annual report in February 2009.
The witness said he was aware there were funding initiatives underway to attract deposits, but said he did not attend Friday meetings in Mr Drumm's office in relation to these during the summer of 2008.
Mr Kieran told the jury that Mr Drumm asked him to “provide a sketch” of the balance sheet position in March and July and also draft a forecast of how it might look in September, 2008.
The jury also heard the statement of Michael Casey, a treasury manager at ILP in 2008.
Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, read Mr Casey's statement to gardai, wherein he said he first became aware of a £978m sterling transaction with Anglo on September 25, 2008.
Mr Casey said he authorised a temporary overriding of Anglo's credit limit, in order for these funds to move from ILP to Anglo overnight.
David Drumm of Skerries, Co Dublin, has pleaded not (NOT) guilty to conspiring with former bank officials Denis Casey, William McAteer, John Bowe and others to defraud depositors and investors at Anglo by “dishonestly” creating the impression that deposits were €7.2 billion larger than they were in 2008.
The former Anglo CEO has also pleaded not guilty to false accounting on December 3, 2008, by furnishing information to the market that Anglo's 2008 deposits were €7.2 billion larger than they were.
The trial is now in its tenth week, and continues before Judge Karen O'Connor and a jury.