Fitzpatrick faces quiz on loans... in 3 months

GARDAÍ may wait another three months before questioning former Anglo Irish Bank boss Sean Fitzpatrick over the concealment of €87m worth of secret loans, it emerged last night.

Finance spokesperson Richard Bruton branded the move “bizarre” as he demanded fraud bureau officers fast-track their probe which has already been running for a year.

Mr Bruton said the delay again highlighted the need for a far-reaching investigation into how the Irish banking system came to the brink of collapse.

High-level Garda sources said the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI) do intend to interview Mr Fitzpatrick – either by arrangement, or, if necessary, under arrest – but such an interview was “not imminent”.

A senior source reiterated what Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said at the end of last November, when he stated that the investigation should be finished by the end of spring, at which stage the decision will have been made to conduct the interview. Only at this stage will a file be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide, in consultation with the GBFI, whether or not any prosecutions should be taken.

Mr Fitzpatrick has insisted that no “legal regulations” were breached after it came to light €87m was transferred to the Irish Nationwide in a bid to hide the scale of loans to the bank’s directors. GBFI officers raided the HQ of Anglo Irish in February and seized documents and computers, but no prosecutions have so far followed.