Former rugby player insisted legal advice bills be sent only to him, trial told

A former managing director accused of stealing more than €570,000 from Bank of Ireland Private Bank told a solicitor’s firm that invoices “should not be sent to anyone in the office but me”, his trial has heard.

“It is unhelpful,” Brendan Mullin is alleged to have written in an email to McCann Fitzgerald solicitors’ litigation partner, Roddy Bourke, in December 2012, after it emerged a Bank of Ireland staffer had queried an invoice sent to the bank by the firm.

Mr Mullin (60), of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, who is accused of stealing more than €570,000 from Bank of Ireland Private Bank among other charges, denies all 15 charges against him.

As part of its case against him, the prosecution alleges Mr Mullin authorised payments by the bank to solicitors McCann Fitzgerald, accounting firm Grant Thornton and accountants Beechwood Partners for work that was carried out either for his company, Quantum Investment Strategies, or for him personally.

Giving evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Monday Mr Bourke told the court that in September 2012, the firm sent Mr Mullin an invoice for just over €56,000 for advice he received in relation to a litigation matter.

Mr Bourke told the court that Mr Mullin was being sued by two individuals in relation to investments where they claimed they made losses. He said the litigation concerned a time period where Mr Mullin was working on his own account for a period of eight months in between finishing up working for one company in 2007 and joining another.

Mr Bourke said that although the litigation was ongoing while Mr Mullin was employed by Bank of Ireland, “the underlying events which gave rise to the litigation were long over by the time he started with Bank of Ireland”.

The court was shown a transcribed copy of a voicemail Mr Mullin left Mr Bourke in June 2012, in which he told the solicitor: “Either way, the bill will be settled.”

The court was then brought through a number of invoices, with the jury being told Mr Mullin wanted the €56,000 bill to be split in two different ways.

Mr Bourke said he received instructions to split the bill, with one-third (€18,450) to be referenced as advice to Quantum Investment Strategies and the remaining two-thirds (€37,585) to be referenced as advice in relation to the named individuals in the litigation matter.

The court heard that in October 2012, a member of the billing department in McCann Fitzgerald was contacted by a member of procurement in Bank of Ireland saying the €18,450 bill could not be paid as it was made out to Mr Mullin’s home address. A fresh invoice was subsequently issued to Bank of Ireland Private Bank using this address and this bill was paid, the court heard.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.