Drumm to fight bid to extradite him after US arrest

The former head of rogue lender Anglo Irish Bank is to fight his extradition to Ireland following his arrest.

David Drumm, 48, was detained by US marshals in Massachusetts over the weekend and is being held in custody ahead of an extradition hearing tomorrow. Authorities here want to quiz him over the collapse of the bank and have long-sought his after he failed to be declared bankrupt in the US.

Mr Drumm moved to Massachusetts in 2009, six months after resigning as chief executive of the now defunct bank, which was central to the country’s boom-to-bust saga.

Along with two others, he stood down after hundreds of millions in directors’ loans were uncovered.

He refused to return to Ireland to be questioned about the events leading to the collapse of the bank, which was later nationalised before being wound up.

Mr Drumm fought a four-year legal battle in Boston to write-off his own debts of €10.5m. But a US bankruptcy court rejected his claims in January, ruling the ex-banker was “not remotely credible”.

During the proceedings, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation — formerly Anglo Irish Bank — fought his claims for bankruptcy, as he owed it €9m.

The DPP here also recommended a number of charges be brought against Mr Drumm after a years-long probe into Anglo Irish Bank by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

A spokeswoman for the US attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Christina DiIorio-Sterling said: “I can confirm that Mr Drumm was arrested by US marshals in Massachusetts on an extradition warrant.

“He will remain in custody until his hearing in federal court in Boston.”

Mr Drumm has always maintained he was made a scapegoat and will fight any attempts to appear before the courts here. In an interview earlier this year with Irish Central, he said he would never get a fair trail.

“My version of events, acceptance of responsibility for my failings, and information that I feel should be made public, and is critical to the public interest, will never get a hearing because evidently the establishment has much to fear from my evidence.

“Their standard retort for any view I wish to express is, ‘Why doesn’t he come home and co-operate with the gardaí?’ This is their trump card and has the effect of ending all discussion.

“A large section for the Irish media are happy to go along with this and reinforce the message with scandalous libel and untruths about me printed and published on an almost daily basis.

“The media and politicians have criminalised me repeatedly and exhaustively. I have never been charged with a criminal offence.

“I am routinely described as having ‘fled’ the country when in fact I moved back to the US with my family in June 2009, six months after I left the bank.

“I returned to Ireland on two separate occasions in 2009, both of which were to speak with the bank about my loans. On the first occasion, my visit to the bank was purposely leaked to the media and a photographer and senior political journalist were waiting for me at the front door. On the second occasion, the bank cancelled a settlement meeting that I had travelled over for, and soon after issued legal proceedings against me and my wife, all for political effect.

“It is abundantly clear that I have been made a scapegoat for all of the problems Ireland has endured since the financial crisis of 2008.

“I have always accepted my professional failings but I will not be bullied and criminalised for political advantage and to deflect blame from others.”