Police to charge 14 after inquiry into Anglo Irish Banks

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 December 2010 19.00 GMT 

Two files are sent to the DPP as inquiries into the collapsed institution continue

A branch of Allied Irish Banks in Dublin. The bank collapsed in September 2008.
Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Police in Ireland are seeking to charge 14 people over alleged wrongdoing at Anglo Irish Banks, the failed institution that brought the republic's financial system to its knees, it was announced today.

Justice minister Dermot Ahern said two files on the investigation would be sent to the director of public prosecutions within 24 hours, while other inquiries would continue into the new year.

The first file relates to whether deposits were used to mask large withdrawals. Irish Life & Permanent said last year it had deposited between €6bn and €7bn with Anglo in September 2008 to provide "exceptional support" at a time when the world's financial sector was hit badly by the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank.

"There are four main suspects in relation to back-to-back loans between Anglo Irish Banks and Irish Life and Permanent that relate to a total of €7.2bn," Ahern told Reuters, adding that the 42-volume file on the case, running to hundreds of pages, would now be sent to the DPP.

The other file concerns the loan of €450m to a group of 10 investors to help them buy a 10% share in Anglo that had originally been built up by businessman Sean Quinn.

Investigations into the bank have been ongoing for almost two years and the files run to hundreds of pages. Anglo Irish was at the heart of the Celtic Tiger and was nicknamed the "builders' bank", backing property development both in Ireland and in London and elsewhere overseas.

It effectively collapsed under the mountain of debt in September 2008 and was nationalised in January 2009. It is currently being wound down but bad debts at the bank will cost the taxpayer in the region of €35bn.

The bank's former chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick, was questioned earlier this year by the Garda fraud squad and released without charge. He was declared bankrupt in July.