THE FORMER ANGLO Irish Bank executives Patrick Whelan and Willie McAteer have been sentenced to 240 hours of community service, the maximum terms that could be applied by Judge Martin Nolan,.
Whelan, who was the bank’s director of lending in Ireland, and McAteer, their former finance director, were both ordered to serve the hours over the course of the next year.
Both men, who sat together in court, greeted their sentences with smiles as Judge Nolan told them, “Enjoy your community service.”
Whelan and McAteer had been found guilty in April of illegally providing loans to the ‘Maple 10′ group of developers in 2008, so that the group could buy shares in Anglo, diluting the interest built up by businessman Seán Quinn.
It was thought the two men had been facing possible maximum sentences of five years in prison and/or fines of €3,000.
However, after a request today from prosecuting counsel Paul O’Higgins, Judge Nolan specified the alternative to community service was a two-year prison term.
At the former Anglo executives’ initial sentencing hearing in April, Judge Nolan said it would be unjust to send Whelan and McAteer to jail.
Rather, he reserved much of his criticism for what he perceived as serious failings on the part of the Financial Regulator.
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