Ex-bank boss David Drumm 'could face dozens of charges if extradited from US'
Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm could face 33 criminal charges here in Ireland if the authorities succeed in extraditing him from the US.
Court documents released in Massachusetts outline in detail the counts against Mr Drumm in connection with the collapse of Anglo during the financial crisis.
The charges carry penalties ranging from five years behind bars to an unlimited prison term.
The counts were published by Massachusetts District Court on the day of Mr Drumm’s first scheduled extradition hearing following his arrest in the US last week.
According to the court papers, an arrest warrant was issued for each separate charge on June 27 2013, by a judge in Dublin.
“In February 2009, the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority filed a complaint with An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police force, concerning a number of suspected malpractices within Anglo,” stated the 12-page court document.
“In the course of the investigation, Drumm was implicated in the alleged malpractices.”
The majority of the 33 counts relate to Mr Drumm’s alleged role in the so-called Maple 10 transactions.
The plot involved the bank lending around €450m to a secret circle of clients in July 2008 in order for them to buy shares in the bank to stop its price tumbling.
It was the outworking of a bid to save the institution from a doomed €2.4bn gamble on its shares, 28% of its total stock, by former billionaire industrialist Sean Quinn.
In relation to the events around the Maple 10, Mr Drumm, who has been living in the Boston suburb of Wellesley, is accused of disclosing false or misleading financial information; giving unlawful financial assistance related to the purchase of shares; forgery; and being privy to document falsification.
David Drumm arrested in USA two hours ago.
— Mark Felt (@swans_song) October 10, 2015
He faces two further counts, of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud, in relation to so-called “back to back” transactions.
The charges relate to claims Mr Drumm was involved in giving billions of euros to Irish Life and Permanent plc, only for it to return the money to Anglo through its corporate subsidiary Irish Life Assurance.
Anglo then presented this money as a corporate deposit, in an effort to bolster its faltering books.
