Former Anglo Irish Bank CEO to face extradition hearing in Boston

[BOSTON] The former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank is due in federal court in Boston on Tuesday for an extradition hearing as Irish authorities reportedly are preparing to charge him for his role in the collapse of that bank.

The executive, David Drumm, was arrested on Saturday in a suburb of Boston, where he had been living since the bank was nationalised in early 2009, and has been in custody since awaiting Tuesday's hearing, according to a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office in Boston.

An Irish court in July sentenced three lower-ranking executives of the bank to serve 18 to 36 months in prison, making them the first bankers jailed since the country's financial crash.

Anglo Irish's failure, linked to casino-style lending that drove Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" boom, cost the state 30 billion euros (S$47.8 billion) in bailout funds.

Irish national broadcaster RTE reported in January that Ireland had sent an extradition file to the US government, outlining charges to be prepared against Drumm by the Director of Public Prosecution on up to 30 different offenses.

An attorney for Drumm declined to comment ahead of the hearing.

REUTERS