Updated 16.40
David Drumm has been granted bail on over 30 criminal offences alleged to have happened during his final years as CEO of Anglo Irish Bank.
He was extradited back from the US this morning and the State applied for him to be remanded in custody amid concerns he may flee if released on bail.
Mr Drumm smiled and turned to face the public gallery when Judge Michael Walsh said he felt the State’s flight-risk argument didn’t hold up.
By moving to Boston in 2009, Dean Kelly, for the DPP, accused Mr Drumm of moving his life out of the reach of gardaí and said he set out “in a careful and considered way” to avoid this day.
The majority of the 33 offences deal with alleged unlawful loans to the family of businessman Sean Quinn and the so-called Maple Ten.
The rest relate to over €7bn worth of transactions with Irish Life & Permanent which the State believes were part of a conspiracy to defraud.
Mr Drumm took to the stand himself and, speaking with an American twang, confirmed he did not have a US passport and had surrendered his Irish one.
Bail was set at €150k and he was remanded in custody until tomorrow when gardaí will decide whether to approve his independent surety.
Dublin District Court earlier heard that seven members of Drumm’s family are willing to put their homes on the line to secure his bail.
His solicitor told the court he is prepared to sign on twice daily if granted bail, and that Drumm could lodge a large cash sum, hand over his passport and would even agree to being tagged – a provision that is not yet provided for in Irish law.
Drumm's movements
Mr Drumm was escorted off an Aer Lingus flight at Dublin airport this morning, brought out through an airport side door and then driven away by gardaí in a grey-coloured car with blacked-out windows.
He was brought to Ballymun Garda Station for booking, before being transported to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin
David Drumm has left Ballymun Garda Station in blacked out car ahead of later court appearance pic.twitter.com/6dv9SyxJvo
— Sean Defoe (@SeanDefoe) March 14, 2016
Mr Drumm moved his family to Boston in 2009 and he has been accused of leading State agencies on a "merry dance" since then.
Just over a year ago, the Director of Public Prosecutions informed the US Department of Justice of her intention to bring charges against Mr Drumm, following investigations by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
This morning the court heard Mr Drumm owes over €8 million but gardaí claim he still has the capacity to marshal significant amounts of money.
