Drumm faces large legal bills if he fights any attempt to extradite him to Ireland

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm faces an expensive legal battle if he decides to fight any attempt to extradite him to Ireland.

Security sources believe Mr Drumm would not be entitled to free legal aid in the US and paying for a legal team to represent him in court over many months would cost “at least hundreds of thousands and maybe over a million”.

The former banker transferred a lot of money to his wife, a factor one source believed would militate against any effort to secure free legal aid.

Other sources said it was impossible to estimate how long any extradition process would take. “It could happen in a few months, but it could also easily go into next year,” said one source in Dublin.

A large quantity of documentation arising from the investigation of Mr Drumm by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has just been sent to the US authorities for consideration.

American law enforcement officials will decide whether there are corresponding charges in Ireland and the US facing Mr Drumm, meriting an arrest warrant that would trigger the extradition process.

Bankruptcy

The extradition efforts are taking place independently of Mr Drumm’s bankruptcy case in

Boston

in which a Massachusetts judge blocked his discharge from debts of more than €10 million on Tuesday.

Spokesmen for the Irish Embassy in Washington, the US department of justice, the Garda in Dublin and the Irish Department of Justice all declined to make any comment.

Sending the documentation to the United States represents the first step in the State's efforts to extradite Mr Drumm to face charges relating to his time at Anglo Irish Bank.

The Garda documentation was passed to the Department of Justice and then on to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

It was processed through the Irish Embassy in Washington on to the US state department, which in turn passed the information to the US department of justice. Its officers will study the file and may seek additional information from the Irish.

If satisfied with the documents, the US authorities would apply to their own courts to arrest Mr Drumm with a view to his extradition.

If arrested, he would be brought before a court and would consent to or mount a legal challenge to his extradition.

If he challenges any process, as is anticipated, he could be granted bail or remanded in custody if deemed a flight risk.

If extradition is eventually approved, Irish detectives would fly to the US and bring Mr Drumm back, and he would enter the Irish legal system.