David Drumm set to take up bail after court hearing

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm could today taste freedom from custody for the first time since he was arrested by US officials last October.

Mr Drumm was yesterday granted €150,000 bail by a Dublin court following his extradition from the US to face trial over financial irregularities at the bank.

The “voluminous” case involves allegations of €7bn back-to-back transactions with Irish Life & Permanent, which the State believe was part of a conspiracy to defraud. The charges also allege unlawful loans to the so-called Maple 10 group of investors as well as members of Sean Quinn’s family.

Mr Drumm, who has not yet entered a plea, was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison with consent to bail terms and will appear at Dublin District Court hearing today. It is expected he will then take up bail.

He has to lodge €50,000 and an independent surety in the sum of €100,000 has to be approved to get released. Other bail terms state he cannot leave the country, must sign on twice daily at Balbriggan Garda station and not apply for a new passport.

Mr Drumm emigrated to the US in 2009 and set up home in Boston; later he unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy.

A warrant was issued for his arrest here in 2014 and an extradition request was then made by Ireland to the US authorities. He was arrested at his home in Wellesley on October 10 last year. At first, he refused to consent to his extradition but after two failed attempts to get released on bail, he changed his mind.

He arrived in Ireland yesterday accompanied by fraud squad detectives and was brought to appear at Dublin District Court where the State objected to bail on the grounds he was a flight risk. However, Judge Michael Walsh held that he was entitled to bail.

He said Mr Drumm, who is to reside at Shenick Avenue in Skerries in north Co Dublin, would be unlikely to face trial until 2017 and would be facing a trial involving a “voluminous” amount of evidence involving emails, 400 hours of phone recordings and “millions of documents”. He also said Mr Drumm was an Irish citizen with strong ties to Ireland.