Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive Drumm arrested in Massachusetts

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm, who was seen as a culprit in Ireland's banking crisis, was arrested in Massachusetts at the weekend by United States marshals on an extradition warrant.

Drumm would remain in custody until his hearing in federal court in Boston on Monday, the US Attorney's office said.

Irish national broadcaster RTE reported in January that Ireland had sent an extradition file to the US government, outlining charges to be prepared against Drumm by the director of public prosecution on up to 30 offences.

The prosecutor, who has brought other Anglo Irish executives to trial, requested in July that a parliamentary inquiry into Ireland's banking crisis not publish a statement Drumm had issued to it.

Drumm stepped down from the one-time stock market titan in December 2008, a month before it was nationalised. He filed for bankruptcy in his new home of Boston two years later, owing his former employer more than US$11 million from loans he had been given.

A Boston court dismissed his application as not remotely credible earlier this year, saying he had lied and acted in a fraudulent manner in his bid to be declared bankrupt in the US.

Bailing out the failed bank Drumm ran from 2005 to 2008 cost Irish taxpayers about €30 billion, close to 20 per cent of the country's annual gross domestic product. It was seen as the heart of a banking crisis that forced Ireland into a 2010 international bailout.