Three former bankers on fraud charges

Former senior bank officials John Bowe, Denis Casey and Peter Fitzpatrick were yesterday charged in relation to an alleged €7.2 billion fraud involving Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life Assurance and Irish Life & Permanent in 2008.

Just before midday, the three men, all wearing overcoats, were brought from a holding cell into court number two of the Criminal Courts of Justice complex in Dublin, where they stood silently behind a large pane of glass to hear the charges against them and the arguments around their conditions of bail.

In a sitting before Judge Patricia McNamara, all three were charged with conspiracy to defraud contrary to common law.

Mr Bowe, a former head of capital markets at Anglo Irish Bank, faced an additional charge that on December 3rd, 2008, he falsified accounts contrary to section 10 of the Theft and Fraud Act.

Mr Casey is the former chief executive of Irish Life & Permanent, once one of Ireland’s biggest public companies. He is now a barrister and junior counsel. Mr Fitzpatrick is a former finance director of IL&P.

Det Garda Insp Gerry Walsh of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation took the court through the charge sheets and outlined the bail conditions being sought.

He told the court that the three had replied “No” when the charges were read to them earlier that day.

The three were remanded on bail until March 12th when a book of evidence will be produced. The court was told that this case was unlikely to be heard in 2014.

The bail conditions required the men to pay €1,000 each along with independent sureties of €10,000 lodged on their behalf. Each man also undertook not to leave the jurisdiction without giving the Garda at least 48 hours written notice.

The court made an exception for Mr Fitzpatrick, allowing him to travel to Northern Ireland for family reasons.

Signing in
The three are also required to sign in at a designated Garda station once a week. Mr Bowe and Mr Casey asked to sign in on Sundays with Mr Fitzpatrick opting for Wednesdays.

The judge asked that the conditions around the independent sureties be explained in court to Mr Bowe’s wife Frances, Mr Fitzpatrick’s wife Maria and Mr Casey’s brother Alan.