Drumm bankruptcy case told wife has legal adviser

THE DAVID Drumm bankruptcy case has been told that the former banker’s wife, Lorraine, now has her own legal representative.

In a filing yesterday, attorney Christopher Panos of Boston said he was now representing Ms Drumm. He has requested that copies of all orders, pleadings, etc in the case now be forwarded to him. This means both Mr Drumm and his wife will be receiving copies of the filings in the case.

In a filing some weeks ago, Mr Drumm, who stepped down as Anglo Irish Bank chief executive in December 2008, included his wife among the creditors to whom he said he owed money.

Mr Drumm said he owed his wife $210,347 (€154,509) arising from “various loans”. Anglo wants to question him about what income his wife has that would permit such loans, her contribution to family expenses and details about her employment.

She has also been involved in legal proceedings in Ireland over dealings between herself and her husband over the ownership of their former home in Malahide, Co Dublin. Ownership of the home was transferred into her sole name at one stage and the bank initiated an action aimed at undoing this. However, when she later tried to move the house back into their joint names, the bank sought to prevent this. It may be that the decision by Mr Drumm to seek bankruptcy in the US was behind this change of strategy.

In a statement of intention filed earlier this month, Mr Drumm said he was seeking to sell 262 Stage Neck Road, Chatham, Massachusetts. Local bank Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank has a mortgage on the property, which Mr Drumm bought in 2008 for approximately $4.5 million.

Anglo Irish Bank is seeking to question Mr Drumm as part of his bankruptcy application about a wide range of matters, including his residency status in the US.