Ex-Anglo Irish boss named in 16 offences

Ireland's most criticised banker appeared yesterday in a Dublin court facing sixteen charges following a major investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Anglo Irish Bank.

Sean FitzPatrick, one-time chief executive and chairman of the bank, built it up into what was once regarded as one of the biggest success stories of Ireland's boom years. Yesterday, he became the third of its executives to face serious charges.

He stands accused of sixteen offences, including permitting the bank to give financial assistance to six members of the once hugely wealthy Quinn family and ten senior clients of the bank to enable them to buy shares in the bank. Anglo advanced the loans to prop up its shares in order to increase confidence in the bank. The institution later collapsed and was nationalised at a cost of around €30 billion.