Ex-rugby international Mullin jailed for three years

Former rugby international Brendan Mullin has been jailed for three years for stealing over €500,000 from Bank of Ireland when he was the chief executive officer of its private bank a decade ago.

The 61-year-old from Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, had pleaded not guilty to false accounting and stealing more than €570,000 from the bank between 2011 and 2013, but was convicted by a jury earlier this month.

The court was told that Mullin now accepts the jury's verdict.

Judge Martin Nolan said that while it was unlikely that he would ever offend again or secure comparable employment in the future, his offending was "very serious" and he had to be sent to prison.

Mr Mullin arranged for the bank to pay some of his bills by breaking down invoices into smaller sums and sending them for payment to different departments in the bank, and through a series of complicated transactions involving companies he was linked to, including one registered in the Caribbean.

Mr Mullin arranged for sums of money to be paid by Bank of Ireland 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.

He 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.

Spice Holdings was a client that Mr Mullin had brought into the bank.

Mullin had pleaded not guilty but was convicted by a jury of 12 charges, including theft and false accounting.

All of the money was paid back before the garda investigation or court proceedings commenced.

His defence counsel Brendan Grehan said Mullin now accepts the jury’s verdict and has suffered both personally and professionally during "a huge fall from grace."

Judge Nolan said it was not clear why Mullin did what he did, but said he must have been under serious pressure at the time.

He accepted he was very remorseful, that the delay in the case had been very traumatic, and that he is unlikely to obtain comparable employment in future.

However, he said this was obviously a very serious matter to steal from the company "you are in charge of" and said he must impose a custodial sentence.