The upcoming trial of former Anglo Irish Bank executives may have been jeopardised, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
The trial of the bank’s former chairman Seán FitzPatrick and two former directors was mentioned yesterday in order to check on the progress of the case.
Mr FitzPatrick (65) of Whitshed Road, Greystones, William McAteer (62) of Auburn Villas, Rathgar and Pat Whelan (51), of Coast Road, Malahide, have been charged with 16 counts of allegedly providing unlawful financial assistance to individuals to buy shares in the bank.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending Mr Whelan, told Judge Martin Nolan a matter had come to his attention which may jeopardise the trial in January - or in fact the trial going ahead at all.
Earlier in the short hearing, Uná Ní Raifeartaigh SC, prosecuting, told the court a lot of progress had been made behind the scenes but said a disclosure issue had now arisen which will not be able to be resolved without the assistance of a trial judge.
She said the legal teams of the accused are looking for certain information which are in the hands of third parties and requested a date be set for a pre-trial disclosure hearing.
Judge Nolan set that date for July 26th and set aside two hours for the hearing.
Mr Grehan then said he will deal with his concerns at the disclosure hearing.