RATHMULLAN NATIVE William McAteer has been handed a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for fraudulently obtaining a loan for €8m from Anglo Irish Bank in 2008.
The sentence will run concurrently with the three-and-a-half year sentence McAteer is already serving for his part in a €7.2bn conspiracy to defraud, by misleading people about the true health of Anglo.
McAteer, 66, of of Greenrath, Tipperary Town, Tipperary, pleaded guilty to obtaining a loan of €8 million from Anglo on September 29, 2008 which he secured against his shares in the bank.
Last month, McAteer pleaded guilty to the offence and today he was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Court.
On 29 September 2008, Anglo’s share price fell so low that Bank of Ireland was entitled to sell McAteer’s shares without notice.
McAteer informed Anglo that the bank was concerned that the sale of so many shares by a director of Anglo could have had a catastrophic effect.
Anglo decided to give McAteer a loan of more than €8m to pay off Bank of Ireland.
The court heard McAteer did not seek it and did not devise its terms but accepted the loan.
McAteer is already serving a three-and-a-half year sentence for being involved in a €7.2bn conspiracy to mislead people about the true health of Anglo in September 2008.