Former rugby international jailed for three years

By Isabel Hayes

Former rugby international Brendan Mullin, who stole hundreds of thousands of euro from Bank of Ireland Private Bank when he was its managing director, has been jailed for three years.

Mullin (61) was earlier this month found guilty of stealing just over €567,000 from the bank on dates between 2011 and 2013, after the jury returned guilty verdicts in 12 of the 14 charges against him following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial.

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.

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 Mullin had brought into the bank.

Sentencing him today, Judge Martin Nolan said Mullin was in “a position of trust and a position of power” when he stole from the bank.

“He was able to sway other parties to do his will,” the judge said.

The judge noted no motive was advanced by Mullin, but he could only infer Mullin was “somewhat desperate for funds and embarked on this endeavour to obtain money”.

He took into account a number of mitigating factors, including what the defence termed as the “exceptional factor” that Bank of Ireland Private Bank was fully repaid the funds and not at a loss.

The judge also noted there was a significant delay in bringing the case.

The court heard Mullin now accepts the verdicts of the jury and Judge Nolan accepted he is “remorseful and sorry for what he did”.

But he noted a custodial sentence was inevitable and he handed down a jail term of three years.

Mullin put his head down when the sentence was handed down.

Mullin was acquitted of the two charges relating to Beechwood Partners, including the alleged theft of €6,150 from the private bank for work carried out privately for Mr Mullin and a false accounting charge related to the same.

The jury was also 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.