A leading Irish banker is being held in the US facing extradition nine years after the bank he led was forced into government hands six years ago.
David Drumm, former chief exec at Anglo Irish bank, was in charge during the boom times of 2005 to 2008. But in 2009 the Irish government had to rescue it to the tune of more than €29 billion.
Anglo Irish was one of three key Irish lenders which needed state intervention when Ireland’s property bubble disintegrated. After taking on the debts of its buckled banks, the Irish state itself needed to be bailed out and received a €85 billion Troika rescue package.
In 2013, Anglo Irish was put into liquidation.
Mr Drumm, 48, fled to the US in 2009. Now he will remain under arrest until he goes to an extradition hearing in federal court in Boston.
Media in Ireland report that the extradition file may contain up to 30 different charges.
The banker had filed for bankruptcy in the US in 2010 with debts amounting to $11 million. Earlier this year, a US judge dismissed the claim after hearing allegations that Mr Drumm had transferred money and assets to his wife so they would not be confiscated during the insolvency proceedings.
The judge hearing the case, Frank Bailey, described the former banker as "not remotely credible" and that his conduct was both “knowing and fraudulent”.
In July, three former Anglo Irish employees became the first bankers jailed for between 18 and 36 months for their parts in the bank’s collapse.
