Drumm tells extradition judge of fresh bankruptcy appeal

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has notified the US judge in his extradition case that he is appealing his rejected American bankruptcy bid for a second time.

The 49-year-old Dubliner also told the judge of further financial pledges made on his behalf and the employment of a 24-hour security guard to monitor his home confinement to support his bail request.

Lawyers for Mr Drumm filed papers on Wednesday notifying the Massachusetts District Court that he was appealing the bankruptcy ruling last month to a higher court; the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

On November 20th district judge Leo Sorokin upheld a January ruling of bankruptcy judge Frank Bailey denying Mr Drumm a discharge from debts of €10 million and a fresh financial start.

Judge Sorokin said that Judge Bailey made "no mistake" either in an error of law or an erroneous finding of fact in reaching his decision.

In a filing in his US extradition case yesterday, Mr Drumm's lawyers notified Massachusetts magistrate judge Donald Cabell that he had lodged the appeal.

Judge Cabell is considering whether to grant him bail pending his extradition hearing on March 1st, 2016.

Mr Drumm has pointed to his appeal to the higher court, one level below the Supreme Court, to challenge the attempt by US government attorneys to use the negative rulings against him in the bankruptcy case to block his release on bail in his extradition case.

Criminal charges

Mr Drumm has been held in custody in New

England

since his arrest on October 10th on an extradition request from the Irish authorities. He is wanted back in

Ireland

to face 33 criminal charges relating to transactions carried out while he ran Anglo Irish Bank.

US government lawyers, arguing against his release, had said that the bankruptcy judge’s finding that Mr Drumm had repeatedly lied to the court had shown the former banker “cannot be trusted.”

The attorneys sent a letter to Mr Drumm’s extradition judge on December 1st to “make sure Judge Cabell had seen” Judge Sorokin’s decision upholding the bankruptcy court’s ruling.

His lawyers argued in yesterday’s filing that “findings or rulings concerning Mr Drumm’s bankruptcy remain contested matters outside the scope of this bail hearing” and are pending before the appeals court.

Arguing again for his release on bail, Mr Drumm’s lawyers said he had arranged for an independent, security company to stand guard and monitor his activities should the court agree to his release to home confinement and the wearing of an electronic ankle bracelet.

Mr Drumm’s employer had agreed to pay for the security company to “stand guard and monitor his activities,” ensuring his home confinement 24 hours a day, seven days a week, his lawyers said.

The rulings by two judges in his bankruptcy case made Mr Drumm personally liable for debts of €10 million and facing financial ruin.

Mr Drumm's decision to appeal the latest ruling means he is fighting legal challenges in two courts in the Moakley Courthouse in Boston.