Drumm facing litany of fraud allegations at bankruptcy trial

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drum will face a litany of fraud and perjury allegations when his bankruptcy trial begins in Boston tomorrow.

A list of “itemised allegations” against the 47-year-old Dubliner, which include accusations of fraud, concealment and lying under oath, has been submitted to the court where he filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

The document was submitted by the plaintiffs in the trial, bankruptcy trustee Kathleen Dwyer, and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, his former employer.

They allege that Mr Drumm’s intent was to “hide or shield” as much money and property as possible from his creditors, primarily from the bank he ran for almost four years.

They claim that between September and December 2008 Drumm transferred more than €830,000 in cash from accounts in his sole name or accounts held jointly with Lorraine Drumm to accounts held in her sole name.

The sums included €250,000 in cash transferred by Drumm to his wife just four days before he resigned as chief executive of Anglo on December 19th, 2008.

In total, the plaintiffs say that in the two years before Drumm filed for bankruptcy, Lorraine - who did not have an account in her name only since marrying Drumm in 1991 - opened 15 bank accounts in her sole name at eight banks.

Mr Drumm has said that he transferred money to his wife Lorraine in the autumn of 2008 because his marriage was seriously strained and his wife was worried about the long hours he was working during the crisis and wanted money of her own to support her family in case something happened to him.

The former banker intends to argue during his trial that any transfers to his wife fall outside the one-year limit when a fraudulent claim could be made against him and that any transfers during the year benefited his creditors.

Mr Drumm claims that any information omitted from bankruptcy statements he made to the court was the result of “honest mistakes” by him and the professionals advising him and were not intentional.