Watchdog did not tell minister of irregular dealings

MONEY-LAUNDERING allegations involving multi-million sums of AIB shares were not communicated to the Department of Finance, who remained unaware that a Garda investigation was taking place into the dealings.

The Financial Regulator reported the suspicious share dealings to the gardaí when concerns were raised in 2001, but it failed to inform the department or minister for finance, who only found out about it in recent weeks.

Representatives from the Financial Regulator’s office will appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs on Wednesday to face questioning on the irregular share dealings.