David Drumm has been jailed for six years for his part in a €7.2bn conspiracy to defraud the public about the health of Anglo Irish Bank in 2008.
The former CEO of the now defunct bank acknowledged his role was a "huge error of judgement", but had denied any wrongdoing.
Judge Karen O’Connor said there was no dispute that the months leading up to September 2008 were challenging times - but she said David Drumm’s motivation for what he did was irrelevant and no excuse.
The dishonesty and fraudulence of the scheme was considered an aggravating factor by Judge O’Connor, who also noted he held a position of trust when he gave the go-ahead.
She said her court wasn't sentencing him for causing the financial crisis or the recession that followed.
She accepted this offending didn't cause Anglo’s collapse, but she said the public is entitled to trust the information put out by public companies and to make decisions accordingly.
She handed down a six year sentence, but gave Mr Drumm credit for the five months he spent in a US prison while fighting his extradition to Ireland.
BREAKING Former Anglo Irish Bank CEO David Drumm has been handed a six year prison sentence for his role in a €7.2bn conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. He will be given credit for time he spent in custody in a US prison fighting his extradition back to Ireland
— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) June 20, 2018
Trial
Drumm's marathon trial came to an end on June 6th when a jury found him guilty of conspiring with others to give people the impression Anglo Irish Bank was €7.2bn healthier than it actually was in 2008.
A jury also convicted him of false accounting.
The prosecution described it as a "massive con" to mislead investors, depositors and lenders about its health at a time when it - along with the Irish economy - was on a downward spiral.
At the former chief executive's sentence hearing today, Detective Sergeant Michael McKenna described him as the “driving force behind the conspiracy".
Drumm's barrister asked Judge Karen O’Connor for leniency.
He said his client acknowledged it was a “huge error of judgement”, and asked her to consider the totality of hardship that’ll be visited upon him - including the notoriety he’ll now carry for the rest of his days.
Conviction
Drumm's conviction brought an end to a story that began a decade ago and involved him moving to the US where he was arrested in Boston in 2015.
He ended his fight for extradition in February of last year and agreed to return to Ireland to face the charges.
During his trial, he accepted the multi-million euro transactions that moved between Anglo and Irish Life & Permanent took place - but he denied they were fraudulent or dishonest.
