FORMER IRISH RUGBY international Brendan Mullin has been sent forward for trial accused of deception and theft of almost €600,000 from Bank of Ireland.

Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) officers investigated bank fraud allegations going back a decade.

In September, they charged Mullin, 58, and Dublin District Court granted him bail.

The former rugby star won 55 Irish caps between 1984 and 1995 before he went into financial services and became a managing director at Bank of Ireland Private Banking Ltd.

He was accused of 15 offences between 2011 and 2013 and made no reply when charged.

Mullin was charged with stealing €500,000 on December 16, 2011, at Bank of Ireland Private Bank at Burlington Plaza, Burlington Road, Dublin 4.

He is accused of eight further thefts totalling €73,000 from the bank.

The GNECB also charged him with five counts of false accounting.

He was also accused of deception by inducing a named man and woman to sign a payment instruction, to make a gain for himself or others on July 27, 2011. This offence allegedly happened at Bank of Ireland Private Bank.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed trial on indictment before a circuit court judge and jury.

The former rugby star, appeared again at the district court yesterday/today (Thur) and was served with the prosecution’s book of evidence.

Judge Michael Walsh granted a return for trial order.

He told Mullin he was sending him forward to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, and the case will be listed there on February 17.

Judge Walsh warned he had 14 days to notify the prosecution if he had an alibi. He also ordered gardai to provide copies of his interview videos to defence solicitor Robert Purcell.

Mullin, of Albert Lodge, Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin, remains on €10,000 bail.

The court ordered him to surrender his passport at an earlier stage.

However, he needed to travel for work purposes, and he was allowed to do that once he notified GNECB Detective Sean O’Riordan in advance.