Liquidator ‘to be appointed’ to Rush Credit Union

The Central Bank is expected to announce the appointment of a liquidator to Rush Credit Union in north county Dublin.

The Credit Union has been involved in controversy since earlier this year when gardaí were called in to investigate the suspected disappearance of €700,000.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan on Tuesday told his Cabinet colleagues that a liquidator would be appointed to the Credit Union.

The Central Bank said it is “engaged with Rush Credit Union in relation to ongoing supervisory issues”. Bank officials were expected to seek the permission of the High Court to have the liquidator appointed.

“Any actions taken by the Central Bank are taken in the interests of credit union members and their savings. Members’ savings are covered by the statutory Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 per member.”

There are roughly 12,000 members in the credit union which covers the Rush and Lusk area of north Co Dublin with an estimated €25 million in savings . It is understood that all individual savings are under €100,000 and are thus covered in the event of a deficit by the State guarantee. The credit union also has a deposit insurance scheme in place.

Missing money

The Garda and the Central Bank went into the credit union in June when it became clear that some €700,000 was unaccounted for.

It subsequently emerged in court hearings that a substantially greater sum of at least some €1.2 million may be missing. It is not clear who is responsible for the missing cash. The Central Bank and forensic accountants from Grant Thornton have been looking into the credit union’s finances since June.

Because of the chaotic state of the credit union’s accounts, a significant financial investment of several million euro would be needed to stabilise its finances in the short term, sources say.

The credit union had two deposit books and appeared to have had large sums of cash in its safe. It’s manager, Anne Butterly, was suspended by the board in March and the Central Bank subsequently went to court to have her suspended from a management position in any financial services firm for a period. This suspension was extended for a further three months in September.