Opening statement sets the scene as Anglo trial begins

A major trial? Absolutely.

Dramatic evidence? Not so much.

The opening day of the high-profile criminal trial of former Anglo chairman Seán FitzPatrick and two other senior executives at the now defunct bank, Pat Whelan and William McAteer, was earmarked by a long opening speech for the prosecution.

Paul O’Higgins, prosecuting, said the three former bankers were each accused of 16 charges of providing unlawful financial assistance to 16 named individuals to buy shares in Anglo Irish Bank in July 2008.

They include Seán Quinn and his five children, as well as a group of 10 “supposedly high-net worth” businessmen, mostly developers, known as the ‘Maple 10’.

In addition, Mr Whelan, the bank’s former head of lending in Ireland, faces seven extra charges of being privy to fraudulently altered loan facility letters which were sent to seven people borrowing money to buy Anglo shares.

All three accused pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Jurors were given a brief lesson by Mr O’Higgins on the topic of shares, derivatives, limited liability and, most importantly, contracts for difference (CfDs), the device used by Mr Quinn to obtain an indirect 25% shareholding in Anglo.

He described CfDs “as an extraordinary form of gambling”, with Mr Quinn’s interest in Anglo running to “tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions”.

He explained Anglo bosses only discovered Mr Quinn’s indirect shareholding in their bank in September 2007 at a meeting at the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan, Co Meath. The jury of eight women and seven men heard attempts by Anglo to persuade other investors to buy Mr Quinn’s interest in the bank over the following months were unsuccessful.

Mr Higgins said in July 2008, that the bank decided to do something “absolutely illegal” by putting together a scheme to loan money to Mr Quinn and his family to allow them buy a direct shareholding in Anglo in a “choreographed” move.

Anglo ultimately lent €175m to the Quinn family at a time when Mr Quinn’s borrowings from Anglo were already €2bn. A further €450m was loaned to the Maple 10 to directly undo the CfD investment.

The prosecution claims that Mr Whelan was “very much involved” in the scheme, while Mr McAteer, Anglo’s director of finance, was less involved but “knew all about it”.

Mr O’Higgins said Mr FitzPatrick, as Anglo chairman, was told about the loans. How much he knew would have to be decided by the jury, he said.

At the end of the hearing, lawyers for Mr FitzPatrick and Mr Whelan made admissions in which they stated their clients were aware of the plan to enable “an orderly unwinding” of the Quinns’ CfDs.

Mr Whelan claims he understood the plan was in compliance with all legal requirements.

Direct evidence from witnesses is due to begin at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today with Mr Quinn expected to provide testimony at some stage this week.