Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm personally pleaded with a US judge to release him on bail pending his extradition case, saying that he didn’t flee Ireland after he resigned from the bank in December 2008.
In an emotional address to the court, Mr Drumm told Massachusetts Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell that he rejected the notion that he and his family ran away from Ireland.
“I did not flee Ireland and I reject the notion that I fled Ireland,” he told the Boston court, standing just feet away from his wife Lorraine and two daughters, Sarah and Ellie, who became tearful at his remarks.
The Dubliner (49) is seeking his release from custody on bail while he fights an extradition request from the Irish State which is seeking his return to Ireland to face charges over transactions conducted while he was chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank ahead of the banking crisis.
Mr Drumm said he and his family had been subjected to “unprecedented media attention” which was intrusive and that they had suffered from social media and “whisper campaigns”.
Politicians back in Ireland had been “screaming from the rafters” that he should be brought back to Ireland to face criminal charges.
When it was reported in the Irish media that the government of Ireland had sought his extradition from the US in January 2015, Mr Drumm said he instructed his lawyer to contact the US attorney in Boston to say that he was willing to surrender to them.
“I didn’t run then, I am not running now; I have no intention of going anywhere,” he told the judge in a speech that lasted about seven minutes.
Mr Drumm said that the thought of running away from his family - “the three women who are in my life” - was “just anathema to me.”
“Were I to flee I would be abandoning my wife of 24 years, I would be abandoning my children, derailing their education,” he said.
“The damage to me personally would be something that I could not take. I would not even contemplate that.”
Mr Drumm was led into court in handcuffs and wearing leg shackles. He was dressed in a grey sweatshirt and green tracksuit pants and wearing white trainers. A large group of supporters, including Mr Drumm’s brother Ken, friends and work colleagues attended the Massachusetts District Court hearing to support his bid for release on bail.
Judge Cabell reserved judgment on whether to grant Mr Drumm bail and asked the two sides to consult each other on whether the bail hearing can be held in February.
“We do need to set a schedule and generate some momentum,” he told attorneys for both sides.
The hearing lasted about an hour and 25 minutes.
