Ex-finance chief not ‘instrumental’ in Maple Ten deal

The former finance director of Anglo Irish Bank told gardaí he was involved in the allegedly illegal Maple Ten deal but denied he was “instrumental” in it.

William McAteer told investigators he “certainly had no involvement in the lending” to the investors, which is the subject of the charges against him and his fellow former executives Seán FitzPatrick and Pat Whelan.

The trial also heard from Menolly Homes owner Seamus Ross, who was one of the Maple Ten. He told the trial he was “delighted” to assist the bank when they asked him to buy Anglo shares to help unwind businessman Seán Quinn’s 29.4% control of the bank.

“They had helped me out in an earlier life,” he told Paul O’Higgins, prosecuting. “I signed whatever documents were put down.”

Mr Ross agreed that the deal involved him borrowing money from the bank for the purchase of the shares. However, he said the deal “didn’t even go on my radar” at the time as he was focused on a High Court action involving the presence of pyrite in homes he had built.

Mr McAteer, Mr FitzPatrick, and Mr Whelan have been charged at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with 16 counts of providing unlawful financial assistance to 16 individuals in July 2008 to buy shares in the bank.

Mr Whelan has also been charged with being privy to fraudulent alteration of loan facility letters to seven individuals in October 2008.

Mr FitzPatrick, aged 65, of Greystones, Co Wicklow; Mr McAteer, aged 63, of Rathgar, Dublin; and Mr Whelan, aged 51, of Malahide, Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Detective Sergeant Michael Prendergast told the court Mr McAteer was interviewed while in custody in March 2010 and again in November 2011.

Mr McAteer said the then-chief executive of Anglo, David Drumm, decided the candidates for the Maple Ten investors.

Mr McAteer said he was made aware of their identities “probably in mid-July 2008”.

During Mr McAteer’s fourth interview, Detective Garda Glen Mackessy put it to him: “You were an integral part of the plan to dispose of the [contracts for difference] positions, you helped orchestrate the transaction including the lending, and you were aware at all times of the details of the transactions.”

The accused replied that he “certainly wasn’t instrumental” but was “certainly involved in carrying out the transaction”.

He said that he had no involvement in the lending to the Maple Ten.

The trial continues.