Updated, 18:20

THE FORMER FINANCE Director at the now defunct Anglo Irish Bank, and its former head of Irish operations, have been charged in connection with alleged financial irregularities today.

Willie McAteer, 52, appeared before the Courts of Criminal Justice in Dublin this afternoon and was charged with with 16 different offences under sections 60 and 383 of the Companies Act.

McAteer, the bank’s former finance director, is accused of allowing the bank to give loans to Patricia Quinn and her five adult children as well as ten clients who became known as the ‘Maple 10′ for the purpose of allowing them to buy shares in the bank.

The 52-year-old, with an address in Rathgar, was arrested this morning on the N7 motorway at Rathcoole, the court heard. He was granted bail on his own bond of €1,000 and an independent surety of €10,000 that was put up by his wife. He was also ordered to surrender his passport.

McAteer’s case will return to the court on 8 October.

Whelan, with an address in Malahide, faces 15 charges under the same legislation, and is charged with allowing Anglo to give unlawful financial assistance to Patricia Quinn and four other members of the Quinn family, and the same ten others, to buy shares in the bank.

The two are the first people to be charged following  a nearly four year investigation by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

The arrests are the latest development in the investigation being carried out into various aspects of the workings of Anglo, now known as Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which is now owned by the State.

In a statement, justice minister Alan Shatter said: “Today’s arrests result from the investigations undertaken by An Garda Síochána and the Office for Corporate Enforcement.

“It is a matter now for our independent prosecution service under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions and our courts.

“It is important that due process now takes place and that nothing is said which could in any way prejudice the outcome of the criminal prosecutions that have been initiated.”

Additional reporting by Gavan Reilly