Drumm hires two more top US lawyers to fight extradition

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has strengthened his legal team by hiring two more top lawyers ahead of a bail hearing on Monday in his fight to stop his extradition to Ireland.

Mr Drumm (48) has retained high-profile attorneys Edward McNally and Daniel Fetterman, partners at the New York firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman, according to a filing made in the US District Court for Massachusetts in Boston.

Both men, former federal prosecutors now in private practice, are highly regarded in legal circles and have long experience in complex trials including cases involving allegations of white-collar crime.

The attorneys will join Mr Drumm's current lawyer, Tracy Miner of Boston firm Demeo, in a bid to block the Dubliner's return to Ireland to face 33 charges relating to a series of transactions conducted in 2007 and 2008 while he was chief executive of the bank.

Mr Drumm was arrested on October 10th by US federal agents acting on behalf of the US Attorney in Massachusetts and is being held at a detention centre in neighbouring Rhode Island.

His recruitment of two prominent lawyers and a three-man legal team to fight his case reflects the strength of his intentions in contesting the extradition request sought by the Irish authorities.

Ms Miner told the US District Court last week that the Government’s request may have been made for “a political purpose” and that it may take up to four months to prepare his defence.

Mr McNally was appointed America’s first general counsel for homeland security and counterterrorism by President George W Bush following the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States.

A lawyer with close ties to the Department of Justice and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mr McNally is a former speechwriter for President George HW Bush and was a visiting professor at Beijing University in China on US constitutional law.

Mr Fetterman, an experienced trial lawyer, has represented corporations and individuals in complicated litigation, government investigations and regulatory proceedings.

His firm's website says that he has represented clients in the investigations into the demise of New York commodities brokerage firm MF Global and that he also acted for American football team, the New York Jets, in its attempt to build a stadium in Manhattan.

Mr Drumm faces charges relating to the Maple 10 transactions in which Anglo loaned money to buy shares in the bank to protect its share price and the back-to-back deposits with Irish Life & Permanent that flattered the bank’s funding position during the financial crisis.