Tribunal delay for Anglo's Seán FitzPatrick

FORMER ANGLO Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick will not face a public disciplinary tribunal by an accountancy regulator as planned next month after the DPP said that it might prejudice future criminal cases.

The tribunal, set up by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board, was due to start hearing a disciplinary case on April 4th into Mr FitzPatrick’s conduct in relation to three issues at Anglo. However, following a request from the DPP, the board said it had decided to adjourn the tribunal until early October when the matter would be reconsidered.

“The DPP expressed his concern that the holding of public hearings and the publication of findings might prejudice future criminal proceedings in the event that a prosecution is directed against any party arising from the investigations of An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement,” said the board.

Mr FitzPatrick declined to comment when contacted yesterday. Mayo solicitor Ward McEllin is chairman of the three-person disciplinary tribunal which will examine his role at Anglo. A special investigator, John Purcell, appointed by the board in 2009, found Mr FitzPatrick had a primae facie case to answer over three issues at the bank:

the temporary transfers of his loans of up to €122 million out of the bank and the failure to disclose them in Anglo’s financial statements;

the transactions between Anglo Irish and Irish Life Permanent (ILP) at key reporting dates in 2008, including €7.2 billion in deposits in September 2008;

a loan of €8 million provided by Anglo to finance director Willie McAteer on September 29th, 2008 to repay a loan to Bank of Ireland to prevent his Anglo shares being sold in the open market.

Mr Purcell, a former comptroller auditor general, was appointed by the board to investigate possible breaches of professional conduct rules at Anglo. The board was set up by the professional body, Chartered Accountants Ireland, to regulate its members. It is considering whether to set up disciplinary tribunals to hear cases against three other chartered accountants in relation to Anglo – the bank’s former chief executive David Drumm, Mr McAteer and the finance director of Irish Life Permanent, Peter Fitzpatrick.

A spokesman for the board said it would decide on these disciplinary tribunals this week.

Mr Purcell also reported to the board’s complaints committee last December that the three accountants had primae facie cases to answer. Two Garda files relating to investigations into Anglo were sent to the DPP last December. The largest file related to the €7.2 billion back-to-back transaction carried out between Anglo and ILP which made Anglo’s annual results at September 30th, 2008 look healthier than they were.

Mr FitzPatrick was arrested and questioned last year by gardaí investigating Anglo but was not charged with any offence. A disciplinary tribunal can suspend or expel a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland and impose a penalty of €30,000. Mr FitzPatrick is a former council member of the professional body.