A senior Allied Irish Bank (AIB) executive has gone to court to prevent the bank firing him over last year's foreign exchange overcharging scandal.
Séamus Sheerin (41), head of the bank's strategic development unit, claims he is being scapegoated and "excluded from employment in order to facilitate others".
Yesterday he obtained an interim High Court order restraining the bank from dismissing him.
Mr Sheerin said he inherited the overcharging problem, and "in liaison with others was engaged in managing it".
It was "utterly perverse that he be subjected to any sanction at all".
The details of how AIB overcharged customers for certain foreign exchange transaction over the best part of a decade emerged last summer. The problem dated back to 1995, when AIB sought approval from the director of consumer affairs for a fee that was 0.5 of a percentage point less than the one it was actually charging.
According to AIB, the problem was an administrative error, and only came to light internally during 2002. However, it was not addressed until it became public in 2004 following an anonymous tip off to the media and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The bank has since refunded €25.6 million to customers.
Last October, the chairman of the bank, Dermot Gleeson, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service that the bank has started disciplinary proceedings against some employees on foot of the issue. The move to dismiss Mr Sheerin is part of the process which is ongoing in respect of other employees.
Mr Sheerin told the court yesterday that he was appointed head of the strategic development unit - which deals with the director of consumer affairs over commissions and charges - in April 2002.
He said he first became aware of the foreign exchange issue in September 2002, and he "endeavoured to manage it".
He claimed that at that stage the problem was widely known within various departments and various levels at the bank.
In his affidavit he claimed that senior managers knew about the problem long before his appointment and had steered clear of the issue. "For example, the only area of revenue generation which was not increased since 1996 was the level of charges on foreign exchange transactions."
He said in September 2002 he told "a superior" that the issue had been brought to his attention, and that "the problem appeared to have arisen due to an apparent error in notifying the correct rate and that the matter was being inquired into".
He said he was "charged with managing the problem, but he did so in tandem, ensuring that others interested in the matter were informed of the problem and the progress being made in that regard".
At no stage did anyone suggest an alternative or criticise his approach, which his believed was "entirely consistent" with the "prior approach" adopted by the bank when dealing with the director of consumer affairs.
He said that after the issue become public in May 2004, he had agreed to take leave. Late last year he was invited to apply for the post of chief executive. But on Wednesday this week he was told he was being dismissed.
Mr Sheerin said that, in short, there was no disciplinary inquiry into his conduct or the way he managed the strategic development unit. The bank never indicated that it had any problem with his work; that remained the case.
AIB refused to comment last night.
