Thursday, July 28, 2011

Is the Anglo Investigation Interminable?

The investigation into Anglo limps on as the court granted another extension and no charges are expected to be filed until next year:
Lawyers representing the Director of Public Prosecutions told the court that it expected to receive a file on financial transactions by Anglo directors within the next 14 days.
The file relates both to a suspected failure by the bank to maintain a register of directors’ dealings and a suspected withholding of information from auditors.

Predictably, the lawyers claimed that the transactions were "more complex than expected." I don't know how this claim can be repeated over and over again. It might have been more complex than expected the first time, but surely the complexity loses its unexpected quality thereafter and adequate steps to tackle it are in order? Better and more legal resources would help reduce the complexity and speed up the analysis? Moreover, one would have thought that the snail-like pace of the investigation would have changed after harsh remarks from the judge. But this snippet proves that little has changed: "A file concerning a loan to a particular Anglo director, sent to the DPP in December 2010, has been assessed by the DPP and is now being considered by its lawyers, while two other files on “back-to-back” deposits between Anglo and Irish Life and Permanent have also been sent to the DPP."

Seriously? You cannot make this stuff up. Some of my previous posts about the Anglo investigation are here, here, here, and here. At this rate it would take a miracle for any charges to be filed.