Computer programme created by Anglo employee to remove records, trial hears

A computer programme was created by an Anglo Irish Bank employee to remove records of a company connected to the bank from its IT system, a trial has been told.

Three former Anglo Irish Bank officials are accused of hiding accounts connected with former chairman Sean FitzPatrick in an alleged Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) evasion scheme.

Patrick Peake, who served as fraud officer for Anglo and it's successor, IBRC, gave evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court about an email he sent to Shane Crowley who was a consultant contracted to Anglo at the time.

“The email is about a programme that Shane would have developed with the intention of removing the account Susie Ltd from the bank's Dublin Investment System,” he said.

Mr Peake told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn SC that the Dublin Investment System was a computer system for storing bank records which had by that time been replaced by a newer system.

The court heard that Susie Ltd was a company which shared a business address with Anglo Irish Bank's Isle of Man branch. Mr Peake told the jury that the directors of the company and those authorised to conduct transactions on its behalf were mostly directors and staff with Anglo's Isle of Man operation.

However he said he was not able to ascertain the beneficiaries of the company's accounts.

Former company secretary, Bernard Daly (65) of Collins Avenue West, Whitehall, Dublin, former Chief Operations Officer Tiarnan O'Mahoney (54) of Glen Pines, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow and Aoife Maguire (60) of Rothe Abbey, South Circular Road, Kilmainham, Dublin have pleaded not (NOT) guilty to seven alleged offences committed in 2003 and 2004.

The three are accused of trying to delete references to two accounts in the name of John Peter O'Toole, Mr FitzPatrick's brother-in-law, from Anglo's Core Banking System (CBS).

Mr Daly and Mr O'Mahoney also deny omitting the name of Mr O'Toole from a list provided to the Revenue Commissioners of people who held non-resident accounts worth more than €100,000 in 1995.

Mr O'Mahoney and Ms Maguire further deny attempting to delete six other accounts, connected to Mr FitzPatrick, from the CBS.

Mr Peake gave evidence that during his investigation he uncovered 275 cash withdrawals, totalling €173,800, from the current account of John Peter O'Toole who is the brother-in-law of Mr FitzPatrick.

The witness said he could find supporting paper documentation in the Anglo archives for only four of these transactions.

Mr Peake also brought the jury through records showing monthly payments of €410 into Mr O'Toole's account from an account in the name of Sean and Triona Fitzpatrick.

Mr Peake said he found a document instructing the bank to make these monthly payments which was signed by “Mary O'Toole”, Mr FitzPatrick's mother-in-law.

The witness said he could find no record of Ms O'Toole being a party to the account and that technically it should have been one of the FitzPatrick's who signed the order since they were the ones transferring the money.

“I suppose that is just another unusual feature, is it?” Mr McGinn asked. Mr Peake replied that it was.

Mr Peake also detailed transactions transferring IRL£71,000 and US$22,460 to a Susie Ltd account from an account in the name of the FitzPatricks.

The trial will continue with the evidence of Mr Peake on Monday before Judge Patrick McCartan and a jury of six men and six women.