Leadership

Sean Fitzpatrick arrested

18.03.2010
The former chairman and chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank Sean Fitzpatrick has been arrested at his home in Co Wicklow.

In a statement this morning, the Garda Press Office said a man in his sixties was arrested this morning in Co Wicklow as part of an ongoing investigation by the Gardaí into alleged financial irregularities at one of Ireland’s financial institutions.

Fitzpatrick was arrested following a search of his home this morning and is currently being detained for questioning at Bray Garda station.

Fitzpatrick resigned as chairman of Anglo Irish in December 2008 in a controversy over inappropriate loans to directors.

The Garda Fraud Bureau is currently conducting a number of ongoing investigations into Ireland’s financial institutions, which largely centre on events at the nationalised lender Anglo Irish Bank.

Three issues are under the spotlight in the investigations, the first of which is the scandal of the secret loans made to directors at Anglo Irish Bank which should have been disclosed in the lender’s annual reports.

The second issue under investigation involves the transfer of monies from Irish Life & Permanent to Anglo Irish and back again which allowed Anglo to enhance the appearance of its balance sheet.

The Gardaí are also looking at the scandal of the so-called Golden Circle of investors at Anglo Irish Bank. This involves transactions whereby some key shareholders in Anglo Irish took out loans to take shares in the bank to prevent large numbers of Anglo’s shares being dumped on the market, which would have affecting the bank’s share price.