Former Anglo Irish bank boss David Drumm has told a trial in Boston that he filled out his bankruptcy forms in 2010 “as best I could”.
Lawyers representing the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and the court-appointed trustee are attempting to block his discharge from debt, claiming Mr Drumm transferred assets to his wife in a bid to avoid paying.
Mr Drumm has claimed he was fully compliant with the process, and any omissions were honest mistakes.
Mr Drumm transferred almost $1.2m to his wife Lorraine’s accounts in the years 2008 and 2009, before filing for bankruptcy in the US with debts of more than €10m in 2010.
When questioned by lawyers for one his creditors, the IBRC, about why he failed to mention the considerate transfers in initial bankruptcy filings, Mr Drumm testified that he “completely forgot”.
The former Anglo boss was questioned in detail in the bankruptcy court in Boston about the timeline of filings he made and paper work submitted by him and advisers. Mr Drumm stated that he told lawyers that he had been made aware he must be fully truthful or “get naked in public”.
Representing IBRC John Hutchinsons told the court that it couldn’t “reasonably accept” the excuse that Mr Drumm made mistakes on basic forms – given his “training and experience”.
Lawyers representing the 47-year-old said that, barring a few “minor exceptions”, Mr Drumm was fully compliant with the process, and that transfers being questioned by the IBRC fall outside the one-year time limit in which any fraud claims can be made against him.