Anglo Irish Bank, William McAteer, Conspiracy charges
FORMER Anglo Irish Bank
executive William McAteer and three co-accused will stand trial in 2016 on
charges of conspiring to mislead the bank's investors about the true value of
its deposit books.
The four men appeared at
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday where a trial date was set for January
11, 2016.
Mr McAteer (63), who has an
address at Greenrath, Tipperary town, Co Tipperary, will stand trial alongside
three other Anglo and Irish Life and Permanent officials.
They are: John Bowe (50),
from Glasnevin in Dublin, who had been head of capital markets at Anglo Irish
Bank; Denis Casey (54), from Raheny, Dublin, who was chief executive of Irish
Life and Permanent (IL&P) until 2009; and Peter Fitzpatrick (61), from
Malahide, Dublin, who had been IL&P's former director of finance.
They have been charged with
conspiring to mislead investors by transferring €7.2bn to make the bank appear
more valuable between March and September 2008. Mr Bowe and Mr McAteer also
face one additional charge each that they falsified accounts contrary to
section 10 of the Theft and Fraud Act.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring suggested
a trial date for late 2015.
"The longer there is no
trial date, the harder it is to get people to concentrate on it," Judge
Ring warned. "The longer you put it off, the longer it is in the list, the
longer it will hang over all parties."
Counsel for the prosecution,
Diane Stuart, assured the judge that "minds are focused" in the
matter.
Judge Ring consented to a
January 2016 date and put the matter in for November 24, 2014, to deal with any
disclosure issues.
