Drumm gave wife cash as Anglo teetered

FORMER Anglo Irish chief executive David Drumm transferred hundreds of thousands of euro in cash to his wife, just as it became apparent the bank was in trouble.

Mr Drumm told a bankruptcy hearing in Boston that he transferred the cash in 2008, some of which was later used by him to start a debt restructuring business in the US. He claims to owe his wife $210,000 (€159,681) which she loaned to him to start up the business in Massachusetts. She is listed as one of his largest creditors in bankruptcy documents filed with a court in Massachusetts.

According to papers filed by Mr Drumm, his wife loaned him $260,000 (€200,000) in total and he has already paid her back $50,000. However, the former banker admitted his wife, Lorraine, did not have any other income apart from money he gave her. He transferred cash to her just as Anglo Irish was beginning its rapid decline to near collapse.