BREAKING: a packed courtroom sees Anglo bankers JAILED
In landmark sentencing for this country, three former Anglo bankers have been sent to prison.
The move comes seven years after the financial crash that crippled the Irish economy – and five years after the Troika bailout that implemented a wealth of austerity measures.
Tiarnan O'Mahoney, Anglo's former chief operating officer; Bernard Daly, Anglo's former company secretary, and Aoife Maguire, a former assistant manager at the bank were given custodial sentences ranging from 18 months to three years.
3 ex-Anglo staff jailed over hiding accounts http://t.co/1FSCuudnhU
— Gillian Fitzpatrick (@gillianfitz) July 31, 2015
And the judge refused to suspend any part of their jail stints – meaning they will serve the entirety of their prison terms.
Yesterday, all three had been found guilty by a jury of conspiring to hide accounts from Revenue Commissioners, and of attempting to conceal accounts relating to chairman Sean FitzPatrick’s brother-in-law.
They spent the night in jail waiting for today's judgement.
During a trial which lasted two months at the Circuit Criminal Court, the defendants’ lawyers had argued that non of the former employees gained personally by their actions.
They also said that their clients were of good standing, and had never been in trouble with the law before.
Nevertheless, O'Mahoney, 56, and Daly, 67, were convicted of knowingly giving false information to the Revenue. And O'Mahoney and Maguire, 62, were found guilty of conspiring to hide a total of six accounts linked to Mr FitzPatrick.
In response, Judge Pat McCartan sentenced O'Mahoney to three years in prison; Daly to two years, and Maguire to 18 months.
Twitter was quick to respond to the news – with many observers applauding the decision.
The so the three little piggies went to jail. #anglo
— Róisín Flanagan (@rositaflangita) July 31, 2015
I wonder if we will ever get to see Fitzpatrick in court #anglo
— Chris Barbour (@ChrisBarbour3) July 31, 2015
So, seven years after the financial crash and five years after the bailout, some bankers are finally jailed – on unrelated matters! #anglo
— Colette Browne (@colettebrowne) July 31, 2015
I'd say there are plenty of ppl who were middle ranking officials feeling pretty uneasy today #anglo
— Stephen Curtis (@StephenCur) July 31, 2015
Judge McCartan told the court that it was clear the accused engaged in a deliberate and ongoing fraud to stop the accounts of Mr FitzPatrick from being disclosed to Revenue officials.
He added that Anglo was a "very sick bank" which "took a very, very dishonest approach to Revenue".
The three appeared emotional throughout sentencing – and as they were led away from the court by prison guards.
Anglo Irish Bank was founded in Dublin in the Sixties and was nationalised in 2009, eventually merging with Irish Nationwide Building Society to form the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.
In the 15 months to December '09, Anglo lost €12.7bn. In total, Irish taxpayers' money amounting to €25bn was injected into the organisation.
