The lead investigator into allegations against Sean Fitzpatrick has described the shredding of certain documents as a “calamitous error”.
The lead investigator into allegations against Sean Fitzpatrick has described the shredding of certain documents as a “calamitous error”.
He made the comment during the trial of the former Chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, who’s accused of misleading the bank’s auditors.
Kevin O’Connell from the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement said the documents he shredded mostly related to meetings he had with the solicitors representing Anglo Irish Bank’s auditors Ernst & Young.
He said he destroyed a “small number of them” after being cross examined during a previous trial in 2015.
He described it as a “dreadful mistake” that happened at a time of “enormous pressure”.
He has previously been accused of coaching the auditors on their evidence and has accepted making mistakes as an “inexperienced investigator”.
Sean Fitzpatrick is accused of trying to hide multi-million euro loans from the bank’s auditors being Nov 2002 and the end of Sept 2007.
The majority of the 27 charges he’s facing allege that he made false, misleading or deceptive statements to them during that time.
