Gardaí advanced in Anglo interviews

THE GARDA investigation into the €7 billion transactions between Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent (ILP) is in the advanced stages of interviewing Anglo staff to determine who reported and sanctioned them.

The Irish Timeshas learned that the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation has interviewed key personnel still working at the nationalised bank to ascertain who initiated the transactions, who processed them and who signed off on them.

Key e-mails outlining how the transactions were to be structured and reported have been obtained by Garda investigators. Staff who sent and received the e-mails have been interviewed as part of the long-running investigation.

The €7.45 billion funding arrangements agreed with IL&P at Anglo’s crucial financial year-end period at September 2008 are the current focus of the Garda. The IL&P transactions flattered Anglo’s balance sheet at the end of that month, masking heavy withdrawals of customer deposits at the peak of the financial crisis.

Lower-ranking Anglo staff have told the Garda they were down the reporting chain and, while they helped process the IL&P transactions, they did not initiate or direct them.

They have said they were not involved in managing the transactions but followed management instructions.

The inquiry is assessing whether instructions were given within the bank to exclude the transactions from the normal internal reporting channels and emails are being analysed to determine whether this occurred.

The investigation by the Garda is running in tandem with an inquiry by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), both of which are assessing the IL&P transactions.

They are also investigating the so-called Maple 10 share transaction in which 10 customers of the bank took a 10 per cent stake in Anglo, using loans from the bank.

The investigations are also assessing the concealment of directors’ loans at the bank.

The Commercial Court was told last week that it could take up to two years to complete any criminal prosecution arising from the ODCE’s investigation into Anglo.