Ex-rugby international Brendan Mullin has been sentenced to three years for stealing over €500,000 from Bank of Ireland. At the time of the theft Mullin, who has 55 caps for Ireland, was the managing director of Bank of Ireland Private Bank.
Mullin (61) stood trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court accused of nine counts of stealing more than €570,000 from the bank between 2011 and 2013, along with five false accounting charges. He had denied all charges against him. The jury returned guilty verdicts in 12 of the 14 charges against Mullin earlier this month.
The jury was directed by the trial judge to return a verdict of not guilty on a further count of deception alleging Mullin induced two bank workers to sign a payment authorisation letter.
The three-week trial heard allegations Mullin, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, was acting dishonestly when he arranged for sums of money to be paid by the private bank to McCann FitzGerald solicitors, Beechwood accountants and Grant Thornton for work that had been done either for him personally or for his firm Quantum Investment Strategies.
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Mullin was one of the stars of the Irish team in the 1980s and 90s, winning 55 caps over more than a decade on the international stage. A centre, he toured with the British & Irish Lions to Australia in 1989, and was the leading try scorer for his country when he retired.
The prosecution further alleged that Mullin stole €500,000 from Bank of Ireland during a breakdown in communication within various arms of the banking group, with the money ultimately being transferred to a company called Spice Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands. The court heard Spice Holdings was a client that Mr Mullin had brought into the bank.
A sentencing hearing on Monday morning heard he “suffered a substantial fall from grace” when the offences came to light. Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC said all the money had been repaid before the garda investigation began.
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Judge Martin Nolan noted he was chief executive officer of the private bank and “obviously in a position of trust and power”.
He noted no motive has come to light for the thefts, but that Mullin was “obviously somewhat desperate for funds”.
Judge Nolan said the offences warranted a six-year sentence which he reduced to three years after taking the mitigating factors into consideration.
Mullin, who was dressed in a grey suit, held his hands behind his back as the sentence was read out before putting them in his pocket when it became clear he was going to prison. There was no other visible reaction.
Mullin was educated at Blackrock College and studied law at Trinity. He made his rugby debut for Ireland in 1984 and went on to line out for the Irish and British Lions. By the time he retired in 1995 he held the Irish record for most tries scored.
The trial heard that despite not having a background in banking, Mullin was headhunted by Bank of Ireland Private Bank in 2010 as a “rainmaker” who would bring in high-net-worth customers.
The private bank was described a “bank for the rich”.
Mr Grehan said his role at the bank “doesn’t seem to be incredibly clear other than he signed lots of pieces of paper that others had already signed”.
The prosecution alleged the transfer was for Mullin’s benefit, while the defence maintained there was no evidence whatsoever that Mullin or anyone connected with him benefited from it. It was a “processing error”, Mullin told gardaí when interviewed.
When the missing money came to light, Mullin was suspended from the role and later forced to resign.
He was charged in 2021, almost a decade after the thefts occurred. The defence said publicity around his arrest caused him significant distress. Mr Grehan said Mullin should receive a “substantial discount” due to the delay in bringing him to court.
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