Sean FitzPatrick sent for trial
The former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive and chairman Sean FitzPatrick has been sent for trial over financial irregularities at the bailed-out lender.
The bankrupt banker appeared before Dublin District Court in connection with 12 counts of giving auditors false or misleading information on directors’ loans totalling at least €140m.
It is alleged the offences were carried out over a six-year period, from 2002 to 2007.
Dressed in a navy suit, blue shirt, print tie and a black overcoat, FitzPatrick sat in the court surrounded by other defendants before his case was called, third on the list.
Detective inspector Raymond Kavanagh told Judge Patricia McNamara there were 12 volumes of the book of evidence in the case.
“With the consent of the defence and the consent of the court I propose to serve volume one and deliver the rest to the defence,” the inspector said, as he handed a large black folder to FitzPatrick as he stood behind a glass screen.
The case was adjourned to March 22, when he will appear before the Circuit Criminal Court.
FitzPatrick, 64, was originally arrested in December by gardai on secondment to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
He was charged under Section 197 of the Companies Act 1990, which makes it an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false or misleading statement to auditors.
Today, prosecutors carried six large cardboard boxes containing the files of evidence in relation to the case in to Court 2.
The judge granted FitzPatrick continuous bail, which he renewed at the court bail office before briefly returning to the courtroom.
Conditions include residing at home, giving 48 hours’ notice if he changes address or leaves the jurisdiction, signing on once a week at Irishtown Garda Station in Dublin, and a bond of €1,000 euro (£865).
Judge McNamara said she also had to give him an “alibi warning”, whereby, if he plans to rely on an alibi for any of the charges, he must let the prosecution know within 14 days.
Separately, FitzPatrick and two other executives, Pat Whelan and Willie McAteer, are due to go on trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in connection with 16 charges of trying to falsely inflate the toxic lender’s share price in 2008.
Last month the Government introduced emergency legislation to liquidate the toxic bank, which had been rebranded at the IBRC, as part of a deal to swap its controversial €25bn promissory notes with long-term bonds.
