Banker drumm jailed
»»Ex-anglo boss gets »»But bent banker 6yrs for €7.2bn fraud will be freed in four
HATED David Drumm was jailed at last yesterday over the €7.2billion con job at Anglo Irish Bank.
The fallen millionaire, 51, is now Prisoner 102640 at Mountjoy after being handed six years.
But with time spent in a Boston prison and automatic remission the dad of two will serve just over four.
A Garda source said after the 87-day trial: “The sentence is shorter than the investigation into Anglo.”
BENT banker David Drumm was jailed for six years yesterday over his leadership in a €7.2billion fraud at Anglo Irish.
The disgraced former boss is now Prisoner 102640 at Mountjoy after a day of drama at Court 19 of the Courts of Criminal Justice in Dublin.
Taxpayers forked out €34.7billion to bail out Anglo Irish Bank, the effects of which will be felt for decades.
But Judge Karen O’connor said Drumm was not being punished for the banking collapse. She told the packed courtroom: “This court is not sentencing Mr Drumm for causing the financial crisis.
“Nor is this court sentencing Mr Drumm for the recession which occurred.
“This offending did not cause Anglo Irish Bank to collapse. This court will sentence Mr Drumm only for the two specific offences for which he has been convicted.” Drumm gently tapped his left hand on his right as Judge O’connor read out the sentence.
He was dressed in a blue suit with a blue open-necked shirt and had a rucksack with him.
He was not accompanied by any of his family and his barrister said he did not want them to be “collateral damage”. The judge also said Drumm breached trust placed in him by the public. She added: “He was the Chief Executive Officer at the time, a member of the board of – and therefore in a position of trust in relation to – the bank, its depositors, investors and lenders and also potential depositors, investors and lenders. “The public are entitled to trust the information published by a public limited company and to make decisions based on that information.” Drumm, a father of two from Skerries, North Co Dublin, had been found guilty by a jury on June 6 of authorising the €7.2billion conspiracy to defraud and of false accounting at Anglo.
The jury found he conspired with others to make Anglo’s deposits look better than they were as the financial crisis hit. The court heard earlier from Detective Sergeant Michael Mckenna who outlined the investigation he led with his colleagues at the Garda National Economic Unit and outlined that the former Anglo CEO was the “driving force” behind a number of illegal “initiatives” to save the bank.
These were designed to bring money back in at a time when it was haemorrhaging a vast amount during the financial crash in 2008.
The prosecution had alleged the basis of the €7.2billion fraud was false accounting as part of the bank’s customer deposits.
False details were outlined in preliminary accounts published in December 3, 2008, which gave the false impression Anglo’s liquidity or cash reserves were strong.
In this he launched a conspiracy with Irish Life and Permanent’s former CEO, Denis Casey, in a deal to save the bank. This was also operated along with Anglo former financial director Willie Mcateer and ex Head of Treasury at Anglo, John Bowe.
Bowe, 54, from Glasnevin, Dublin, Mcateer, 67, from Tipperary, and
58-year-old Casey, from Raheny in Dublin, were all convicted and jailed for their part in the scam.
Drumm, 51, who left school at 16 to start an accountancy apprenticeship, stood trial for 87 days at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
He was charged with conspiring with the three former bank officials and others to defraud depositors and investors at Anglo.
He was also charged with false accounting on December 3, 2008, by furnishing information that Anglo’s 2008 deposits were €7.2billion larger than they were.
Judge O’connor outlined the method: “This figure was created by a series of transactions where money was rotated from Anglo Irish Bank to Irish Life and Permanent plc and through Irish Life Assurance, back into Anglo as a corporate deposit.
“This process was repeated a number of times. The strength of deposits from non-bank entities was regarded as an indication of the health of the bank and the evidence throughout the trial was they were considered more stable and likely to remain in situ longer.
“Similarly, inaction, weakness and ineptitude on the part of the Financial regulatory authorities provides no excuse for a scheme of this nature.
“The jury were told that this was part of a ‘green jersey agenda’ wherein Irish banks would help each other. Mutual assistance is a far cry from unlawful acts.
“There was no evidence the Central Bank or the Financial Regulator directed criminality.
“The public has to be able to trust its banks, citizens place their trust in a bank, allow banks to manage their money and need to be able to believe and make decisions on foot of the information published by their banks.” The judge said the international financial crisis does not legitimise the behaviour of the banking officials at Anglo and IP&L.
She added: “While he and his colleagues were working in an extremely difficult economic climate, this does not provide an excuse for the offending.
“Nor does the motivation or desire to keep the bank open. There has been no suggestion that Mr Drumm or the other conspirators made any personal financial gain as a result of this offending.”
The judge sentenced Drumm to six years imprisonment and gave him five months’ credit for the time he spent awaiting extradition in a US prison. After automatic remission he will serve just over four years behind bars.
Citizens have to be able to place their trust in a bank
JUDGE KAREN O’CONNOR COURT YESTERDAY