Drumm is fourth person to be convicted for Anglo conspiracy
DAVID Drumm is the fourth person to be found guilty of an offence related to the conspiracy to make it appear Anglo Irish Bank’s deposits were €7.2bn larger than they were in 2008. Three others were convicted and jailed in 2016, following what at the time was the longest criminal trial in Irish legal history. The three jailed were former Anglo finance director Willie McAteer, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for conspiracy to defraud, former Anglo head of capital markets John Bowe, who was jailed for two years, and former Irish Life and Permanent (IL&P) chief executive Denis Casey, who received a sentence of two years and nine months.
The sentences were handed down by Judge Martin Nolan.
The judge said the starting point for their sentences was eight years and that the public was entitled to rely on the probity, honesty and integrity of blue chip firms and banks.
However, in sentencing he took into account that the offences took place in the context of a dysfunctional financial market where people were acting under stress.
He said the men did not gain any direct profit from their crimes and took into account their achievements, their contribution to their communities and families and the fact they had suffered badly, losing their positions and being subjected
The judge said the men did not profit from their crimes
to public odium and ridicule.
Former IL&P’s finance director Peter Fitzpatrick was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud by the same trial jury.
Although suspected of the same offences, Mr Drumm was not a defendant in that trial. He had been living in the US and would only be charged in March 2016 after dropping a legal challenge to his extradition.
Bowe and Casey both appealed their convictions. However, last year the Court of Appeal upheld the convictions.
The three-judge court, comprising Mr Justice Sean Ryan, Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards, issued a 138-page judgment saying it was satisfied that the men’s trial was satisfactory and their convictions safe.
The Irish Independent understands Bowe was released from prison six months ago, having completed his term. Sources indicated both Casey and McAteer are receiving periods of temporary release and will, when remission for good behaviour is taken into account, have completed their sentences this August and March of next year respectively.
When contacted, the Prison Service said it could not comment on individuals.