Former Bank of Ireland Private Bank managing director Brendan Mullin told gardaí he arranged for €500,000 to be repaid to Bank of Ireland in 2015 as he “could not leave allegations of that nature hanging”.
Mr Mullin (60), a former Irish rugby international, is accused of stealing over €570,000 from Bank of Ireland Private Bank, among other charges, between 2011 and 2013 when he was managing director. He denies all 15 charges against him.
Transcripts of four interviews given voluntarily by Mr Mullin to gardaí were read to the jury at his trial on Wednesday by prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn SC.
As part of its case against him, the prosecution alleges Mr Mullin, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, authorised payments by the bank to solicitors McCann Fitzgerald, Beechwood Partners accountants and Grant Thornton for work carried out either for his company, Quantum Investment Strategies, or for him personally.
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The prosecution further alleges Mr Mullin stole €500,000 from Bank of Ireland during a breakdown in communication within various arms of the banking group, with the money ultimately being transferred to a company called Spice Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands.
The court has heard the sum of €500,000 was repaid to Bank of Ireland Private Bank in July 2015 from Quantum.
Mr Mullin met gardaí on one occasion in October 2018 and a further three times during the first half of 2020.
During the fourth interview, Mr Mullin said he became aware at a later point that Bank of Ireland had contacted Royal Bank of Canada in relation to a €500,000 payment made to an account in the name of Spice Holdings in June 2013.
Mr Mullin said neither Spice Holdings nor Royal Bank of Canada wanted to deal with Bank of Ireland and he arranged for his solicitors to transfer the sum of €500,000 to the bank’s solicitors, Arthur Cox. He said he “could not leave allegations of that nature hanging” and the end result was “no loss to Bank of Ireland, no loss to Spice Holdings and no loss to me”.
Mr Mullin confirmed that the sum of €500,000 came from Quantum and denied the money was sent by Spice Holdings to his company to be forwarded to the bank. He said he had an “ongoing relationship” with the principals of Spice Holdings and they “had lots of co-investments” and “transfers going in and out”.
When asked to explain the source of the money, Mr Mullin said either Spice or Quantum “would owe the other party some balance of money” and they “squared off outstanding amounts”.
During a third interview, Mr Mullin said Spice Holdings was a “co-investor” with Quantum. “We did investments together, but I did that with a lot of people”.
Mr Mullin said his legal representatives had received correspondence in 2013 with some “pretty serious accusations against me regarding this amount of money”.
“My ambition was to understand what this money was about and if a processing error had occurred which I believe it had”, but he didn’t receive information requested from the bank.
He said he instructed €500,000 to be transferred to Bank of Ireland’s solicitors. “I was following the advice of solicitors. I would have preferred to deal with this in civil case rather than be here with you.”
He said he “couldn’t have allegation like this go unresolved”, adding that the bank’s solicitors “gave comfort that some form of relief would be forthcoming for rectifying the bank’s processing error, but it wasn’t”.
In his first interview, Mr Mullin said it was accepted when he started with the Bank of Ireland Private Bank that there were “legacy investments and issues” which had to be dealt with. He said he made it clear “internally and externally” that he was responsible for paying invoices to “do with nonbank work”.
The gardaí put it to Mr Mullin that he knowingly submitted eight invoices relating to expenses in a private capacity and there was no agreement that the private bank would pay these. Mr Mullin disagreed and said four of these invoices were “authorised transactions”.
He said these invoices – three from Grant Thornton and one from Beechwood Partners – were “approved” following discussions about a bank loan with Mick Sweeney, then chief executive of the wealth management division, and Des Crowley, then Bank of Ireland Group head of retail.
Gardaí showed Mr Mullin a number of emails and invoices as part of the interviews. He denied that he purposefully submitted four invoices totalling just over €61,000 from McCann Fitzgerald relating to private work for him for payment through Bank of Ireland Private Bank.
Mr Mullin said he noticed in March 2013 that an invoice from McCann Fitzgerald, had been “caught in a bundle” and paid in error from a client legal costs account. He said he brought the error to the attention of others and had it resolved.
He told gardaí that he paid the four invoices in full to McCann Fitzgerald, but was at this point unaware that the private bank had paid three earlier invoices from them. He said he made McCann Fitzgerald aware that he was responsible for paying these invoices.
The court has heard that McCann Fitzgerald refunded money to Bank of Ireland Private Bank after Mr Mullin paid these invoices in April 2013.
In a second interview with gardaí in February 2020, Mr Mullin rejected the suggestion that “any transaction was made for my benefit or anyone associated with me”, when discussing the circumstances surrounding the transfer of €500,000 from Bank of Ireland, with the money ultimately being transferred to Spice Holdings.
Mr Mullin confirmed he knew Spice Holdings as “they did investments” and introduced them to the bank in 2010 but had no involvement after this or in the day-to-day account management.
He said he regularly signed documents as managing director and got multiple requests each week which he was required to sign to authorise.
Mr Mullin denied pushing for a transfer of €500,000 to an account in the name of Spice Holdings held by Northern Trust, and said he believed there had been a “processing error”.
The trial has heard that Bank of Ireland Private Bank and New Ireland – both arms of the bank’s wealth management division – agreed to equally split a €1 million refund to customers relating to a payout of life assurance claims.
In a third interview, Mr Mullin agreed with gardaí it appeared there was some confusion among staff about the payment of €500,000 from New Ireland to the private bank, and that it should have been brought to his attention at the time.
The trial has heard that €500,000 was transferred by New Ireland into a Northern Trust account in the name of Spice Holdings in December 2011. Six months later, €500,000 was transferred into another account in the name of Spice Holdings, held by Royal Bank of Canada in Jersey following the receipt of a faxed instruction.
Mr Mullin said he didn’t authorise these transactions and said it was his understanding then that certain accounts were to be closed and assets returned to the clients at this time.
He said it was not correct that he was responsible for the €500,000 transfer to Spice Holdings and he hadn’t “unlawfully transferred anything”.
Detective Sergeant Sean O’Riordan told the court gardaí used mutual assistance channels to seek information from Royal Bank of Canada, but did not receive anything of assistance.
He confirmed gardaí made efforts to speak to Paul Gallagher, then private banking head of finance, but he was unavailable for interview.
Det Sgt O’Riordan confirmed Mr Mullin was formally arrested and charged on September 21st, 2021.
The witness agreed with Edward Doocey, defending, that Mr Mullin co-operated with the investigation, has no previous convictions and is not subject to any further investigations or pending charges.
The prosecution has now rested its case. The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.
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