A decision on whether or not to prosecute anyone following a fraud investigation at Anglo Irish Bank will be made before the end of the year, the Garda Commissioner said today.
"We expect some decision before the end of the year," Fachtna Murphy told reporters.
The Director of Corporate Enforcement and gardaí have been investigating events leading up to the nationalisation of the bank in early 2009. This includes whether short-term deposits were used to mask large customer withdrawals and whether loans were issued to prop up the bank's shares.
"(It's) probably the biggest and the most complex investigation in the history of the state, 115,000 emails and communications being examined, statements taken from 350 people, some with their lawyers sitting beside them," Minister for
Justice Dermot Ahern told RTÉ.
The taxpayer may have to pay up to €34 billion for the Anglo bailout.
Anglo Irish is pursuing former Anglo chairman Sean FitzPatrick and former chief executive David Drumm for repayment of loans but both have declared themselves bankrupt.
Mr FitzPatrick, who kept shareholders in the dark about his massive borrowings from Anglo, owes the lender €110 million.