Jury convicts former Anglo CEO of taking part in multi-billion euro fraud scheme

Shortly after 3pm on day 87 of the trial, the third longest in the history of the State, a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court returned unanimous verdicts of guilty on the two charges of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud. The jury had been deliberating for just over ten and a half hours.

Judge Karen O’Connor thanked the nine men and three women of the jury, telling them they had performed an enormous public service.

The State’s case was that Drumm, 51, conspired with former Irish Life & Permanent CEO Denis Casey, former Anglo financial director Willie McAteer and former Anglo head of treasury John Bowe among others to carry out €7.2bn in fraudulent circular transactions to bolster the customer deposits figure on Anglo’s balance sheet.

The State also alleged that this €7.2bn was falsely accounted for as part of the bank’s customer deposits in preliminary accounts published in December 2008, misleading the market as to Anglo’s true strength.

Bowe, 54, McAteer, 67, and Casey, 58, were convicted on the conspiracy to defraud charges in June 2016 and subsequently jailed.

Detective Sergeant Michael McKenna told the court he was objecting to a continuation of bail as he firmly believed that Drumm posed a flight risk. Drumm would be aware that his co-conspirators received substantial prison terms for their role in the conspiracy.

Drumm, formerly of Wellesley, Massachusetts, US, was subject to lengthy extradition proceedings and was held in custody for five months in a US Federal Penitentiary. He made a number of unsuccessful applications for bail during this time and ultimately consented to his extradition in March 2016.

Brendan Grehan SC, defending, asked the court to grant bail on humanitarian grounds. He said that his client’s wife and children were back in the US for a graduation ceremony and he asked that sentencing be delayed until they were able to get back into the country.

Judge Karen O’Connor noted that there were no breaches of Drumm’s strict bail conditions throughout the trial. She released Drumm on bail on condition that he sign on daily at Balbriggan Garda Station.

The maximum sentence for the conspiracy to defraud charge is unlimited. The maximum sentence for false accounting is ten years.

Sarah-Jane Murphy, CCC.nuacht