NIB 'maverick' managers behind scandal, court told

The "main perpetrators" of wrongdoing relating to bogus non-resident accounts in National Irish Bank in the 1990s were certain branch managers, including "maverick" managers, and it was "incredible" that the inspectors who investigated NIB did not hold them responsible in some manner, a retired National Irish Bank regional manager has told the High Court.

Kevin Curran said he believed the findings of the NIB inspectors that he, as a manager in NIB, bore responsibility with others for certain improper practices within the bank over nine years to 1997, were "incorrect".

The corporate governance structure of the bank placed at all times "utmost responsibility" on NIB's board of directors, the audit committee and auditors (internal and external), "all of whom were exonerated by the inspectors", he said.

There was also an executive committee, of which he was never a member, whose function was making policy for the bank and which "clearly had a significant role to play in the affairs of the bank".

"I would also like to stress that the main perpetrators of wrongdoing were the managers who were directly involved in the matters giving rise to the inspectors' report," he said.

Certain branch managers had apparently routinely dealt with dishonest declarations and apparently ignored audit reports directing them to address problems, he said.

Some managers had told him there were no bogus non-resident accounts in their branches and he, "perhaps naively", took them at their word. He now believed they had done this because of competition from other banks who were "effectively promoting" non-resident accounts.

While accepting he had seen some audit reports referring to "irregularities" relating to non-resident accounts and other matters, Mr Curran said he was not aware of a "widespread practice" of opening bogus non-resident accounts. He had been "very surprised" by the results of various official inquiries into NIB.

Insofar as he had acknowledged that he had suspicions about the existence of bogus accounts in NIB and other banks, this was knowledge he had "through the grapevine" about the practice in his own region, other regions and other banks. In interviews with the inspectors, he had specifically referred to some "maverick managers where one would never know what they were doing".

Mr Curran made the statements in an affidavit read to the court by Maurice Collins SC, for the director of corporate enforcement, during the hearing of the director's application for an order restraining Mr Curran from involvement in the management of any company on grounds of unfitness.

The application relating to Mr Curran (61), Avondale Court, Blackrock, Co Dublin, is one of nine brought by the director against various NIB executives based on the findings of inspectors Tom Grace and John Blayney in their July 2004 report following their investigation into the tax evasion scandal of the 1990s in NIB.

The inspectors made serious findings of improper practices in NIB, including the facilitation of tax evasion and the levying of unwarranted fees and interest charges.

They found Mr Curran was among senior managers who were aware of various improper practices and were responsible for the continuation of those practices in that they failed to take appropriate or adequate action to stop them.

The inspectors found Mr Curran had failed to ensure that NIB branch managers in his region complied with proper procedures related to the opening and maintenance of non-resident accounts and with the bank's legal responsibilities under the Finance Act 1986, which had introduced the Dirt (deposit interest retention tax) regime.

They also held that he and others were aware or should have been aware of the use within NIB branches of clerical medical insurance (CMI) policies to "regularise" certain bank accounts which were "sensitive" or contained "hot money".

He said the allegations against him were "essentially ones of omission" and he had never been involved in opening a bogus non-resident account, overcharging of customers, either for fees or interest, or tax evasion, he said.

He had worked for NIB or its predecessors since 1963 and it "simply was not part of the organisational structure" to proactively investigate and deal with matters outside his defined sphere of responsibility and reporting line.

Like other employees, he focused on getting his job done "often under enormous pressure in relation to targets and results".

The hearing continues today.