The jury in the trial of three former directors of Anglo Irish Bank was sent home on Monday night after a day of deliberations.
Shortly before they left the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court at 5pm, the jurors asked if they could have access to transcripts of evidence given by two witnesses, the bank’s former head of compliance Fiachre O’Neill and its chief financial officer Matt Moran.
Judge Martin Nolan said he would answer that question for them this morning. Seán FitzPatrick (65) was chairman of the bank, Pat Whelan (51) was head of lending in Ireland and Willie McAteer (63) was director of finance.
The trial has centred on a deal to unwind the holding of businessman Seán Quinn in the bank.
The court has heard that by July 2008, Mr Quinn’s contracts for difference (CFDs) – investment products based on share price – were equivalent to more than 28 per cent of the bank’s shares and this was a serious concern for the bank.
The deal involved providing loans to 10 of the bank’s customers, businessmen known as the Maple 10, to buy just over 1 per cent each of the shares underlying the CFDs. Six members of the Quinn family bought 15 per cent of the shares.
The Maple 10 borrowed €45 million each from Anglo to make the purchases while the Quinns borrowed €169 million.
The deal was executed on July 14th, 2008, the court has heard.
Earlier on Monday, the jury requested and was provided with a copy of Patricia Quinn’s loan pack.
The jury had formally retired last Friday shortly after 3pm following 43 days of evidence and statements.
Judge Nolan has warned the jurors that they must leave any prejudice they might have about bankers at the door of the jury room. He also told them they would be given a “voluminous amount” of exhibits. “You should go through them and examine them,” he said.
They will resume their deliberations this morning.
