FORMER ANGLO Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm faced the final round of questions from creditors in Boston yesterday before a final decision on whether he should be discharged from bankruptcy.

Public trustee Kathleen Dwyer has set August 31st as the last time objections can be raised to his discharge – which, if granted, would effectively shield him from multiple claims.

During yesterday’s hearing under questioning from Anglo Irish attorney Ken Leonetti, Mr Drumm admitted to $765,000 (€537,000) in 10 transactions – that were not previously revealed – made from a sole account of Mr Drumm to a joint account with his wife Lorraine in the year before his bankruptcy application in October 2010.

He also said yesterday he now owed his wife $216,00 as opposed to the $210,000 he reported previously. This was the sixth hearing – previous ones have landed on April Fool’s Day, Valentine’s Day and about New Year’s Day.

“This is vital for Mr Drumm,” a bankruptcy expert said. “If he is discharged from bankruptcy, he has a chance of walking away from a very substantial part of his debts.”

The largest of these is the $11 million he owes Anglo Irish. The expert added: “Normally discharge is automatic if there are no challenges. However, someone who does object can file ‘an adversary proceeding’ in which case the matter will then go to a judge.”

Observers believe Anglo Irish will make such an objection, meaning Mr Drumm’s case would likely go to trial in US district court early next year.

At times during yesterday’s hearing, Mr Drumm appeared foggy on details and even evasive. When Ms Dwyer asked if his children would be attending the same private school this autumn as in the past, he said: “Um, not decided yet.”

The trustee persisted, asking: “When does school start?” He replied the first week of September. When asked if he had paid the tuition bill, he said: “Nope.”

He and his wife have two children.

In addition to private school tuition, everything from sales of a BMW to household furnishings to loans between spouses were under scrutiny.

Mr Drumm also admitted he had not filed a 2010 income tax return on income from Ireland.

“I haven’t completed it – I had started it, I haven’t completed it,” he said, adding he expected to complete it in the next couple of months. Ms Dwyer challenged him, saying: “It sounds pretty straightforward.” He responded: “If the inference is to do it fast, then yes, I’ll get it done right away.”

Ms Dwyer asked Mr Drumm about the family finances as she had in previous sessions. Anglo Irish lawyers also questioned him over his bid to be declared bankrupt in the US. He said he had dissolved his company, Delta Corporate Finance, after he had spent all but $200 or $300 of the money he had put up to launch it.

“I’m just consulting directly so I closed the company. It’s just me. It’s just a consulting business so I didn’t need it.”

He also admitted that he was receiving money from his wife for “household things” as well as undisclosed earnings from his consulting clients. “I’m earning an income through my consulting business,” Mr Drumm said.

He was asked to provide a statement of what it cost him and his wife to ship their belongings to the US from Ireland, as well as a copy of what belongings were in storage, which he had failed to provide since the previous hearings.

The former Anglo chief executive, who moved to the US in December 2008 shortly before the bank was nationalised, has said he decided to file for bankruptcy last October after failing to reach agreement with Anglo over the repayment of €8 million in loans.

Earlier, he said he had thought he made the bank a very fair offer, including all of his pension.

Mr Drumm has listed his multi-million-dollar mansion on one acre of waterfront property for sale in Chatham on Cape Cod.

Originally on the market for $5.6 million, the price has been reduced twice and is now offered for $4.6 million. It is expected to sell soon and that legal action will be taken to direct proceeds from any house sale to be used to pay his debts.

Mr Drumm and his family are now living in a $2 million home in the affluent Boston suburb of Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Americans take bankruptcy proceedings very seriously and Mr Drumm will have been meticulously scrutinised in his claims.

Under statutes 152 and 157, if someone lies or fraudulently files a bankruptcy claim, they may be referred to the US attorney’s office for criminal prosecution. Charges might include false statements, concealment of assets and filing false claims in bankruptcy court.

All come with possible prison terms of five years.