A former solicitor’s firm employee has told a court she was “alarmed” when she received a couriered invoice from Bank of Ireland Private Bank with handwritten amendments on it.
Rosie Freeman, formerly of McCann Fitzgerald solicitors, told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial of former Bank of Ireland Private Bank managing director Brendan Mullin that the marked-up changes on the invoice she received in March 2013 were “very peculiar”.
Mr Mullin, 60, who is accused of stealing over €570,000 from Bank of Ireland Private Bank among other charges, denies all 15 charges against him.
Mr Mullin, of Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, has pleaded not guilty to one count of stealing €500,000 from Bank of Ireland (BOI) Private Bank, Mespil Road, Dublin 4 on 16 December 2011, along with eight other counts of stealing various amounts of money amounting to just over €73,000 from the bank on various dates.
He has further pleaded not guilty to one count of deception and five counts of false accounting. All of the offences are alleged to have occurred between July 2011 and March 2013.
Mr Mullin was the managing director of BOI Private Bank at the time of the alleged offences and he is a former rugby international who played for Ireland.
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, Ms Freeman said that at the time in question, she was PA to McCann Fitzgerald partner Roddy Bourke.
She said in March 2013, she received an invoice by courier, along with a handwritten note containing Mr Mullin’s letterhead. She said she had received a voicemail from Mr Mullin prior to receiving the invoice.
The invoice for a sum of over €19,000, which was shown to the court, had Mr Mullin’s home address crossed out and replaced by Bank of Ireland Private Bank’s address in handwriting.
The description of advice carried out by the firm, which the court heard related to private clients who were suing Mr Mullin, was changed to “Quantum Investment Strategies”. Some amounts were crossed out to reduce the bill to €18,792.65.
The accompanying handwritten note which the court heard was from Mr Mullin said: “Can you amend and issue to me in the first instance. We can then issue an invoice to [Bank of Ireland worker] Ger Byrne a copy of your invoice.”
“I was alarmed,” Ms Freeman told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting.
She said it was “very peculiar” to receive an invoice with handwritten markings like that and that she could not carry out the instructions as her boss was not in that day, and a partner’s signature was required on any such amendments.
Ms Freeman is expected to be cross-examined by defence counsel on Monday.
Earlier, Mark White, a partner with McCann Fitzgerald also gave evidence. He told Mr McGinn that he practices in the area of investment funds, asset management and financial services regulation.
He said that between 2010 and 2013, he worked with Mr Mullin in his capacity as managing director of Bank of Ireland Private Bank and that this contact would have been “quite frequent”.
The court heard that when Mr Mullin came to Mr White in February 2012 in relation to a litigation issue in connection with his company, Quantum Investment Strategies, he referred him to Mr Bourke, who was a litigation partner.
Mr White said he continued to work with Mr Mullin in relation to private banking business, and that in the course of one such conversation in October 2012, Mr Mullin asked him to “pass on a message” to Mr Bourke.
“It was in relation to an invoice which Roddy Bourke had issued to Mr Mullin in respect of the other matter,” Mr White said. “He was asking him to reissue the addressing of the invoice… It was addressed to Mr Mullin in a personal capacity.”
Mr White said he forgot to pass on this message, with the court then shown an email sent by Mr Mullin to him on 2 October 2012 saying: “Mark, gentle reminder to send through invoice as previously discussed.”
Mr White responded to Mr Mullin, thanking him and copying in Mr Bourke, whom he told Mr Mullin would be liaising with him in relation to the issuance of the invoice.
Four minutes later, Mr Bourke emailed Mr White saying: “Mark, we are a bit bedazzled by the various invoices!”
Mr Bourke went on to write that they had got a call two weeks ago “from Bank of Ireland Private Bank” to say one of the invoices “should in fact be addressed to them”, so Ms Freeman had reissued the invoice.
Mr White responded to Mr Bourke saying this must be the same one he had mentioned and apologising for forgetting to mention it. “In fairness to Brendan, he contacted me about two weeks ago when he could not reach you,” Mr White said, adding: “That must be the same thing.”
Mr White told the court that it was “business as usual” between himself and Mr Mullin until another invoice came up in conversation the following month.
He said it referred to a different invoice, but with the same date as the original invoice that Mr Mullin had contacted him about in October.
The court was shown an email dated 20 November 2012 from Mr Bourke to Ms Freeman, with Mr White copied in.
It noted Bank of Ireland had paid an invoice for €18,450 and that another invoice for €37,585.50 was outstanding. It stated Mr White had spoken to Mr Mullin in relation to an “administrative change” in relation to that invoice.
Mr White then emailed Ms Freeman with the instructions he had received, the court heard. This email, which was shown in court, said Mr Mullin had asked that this invoice be split into two invoices, with one amount of €18,450 to be billed to Bank of Ireland and a second amount of €19,135.50 to be addressed to Mr Mullin personally.
In cross-examination, Brendan Grehan SC defending, put it to Mr White that Mr Mullin has no recollection of asking him to re-issue the initial invoice in October 2012.
“The only thing he can think that he would have said to you is that he would want it re-addressed to Quantum Investment Strategies,” Mr Grehan said.
“No,” Mr White replied. “I have a very clear recollection that he asked me that it be re-addressed to Bank of Ireland Private Bank.”
Mr Grehan further put it to Mr White that the conversation he had with Mr Mullin in relation to splitting the €37,585.50 invoice was “in relation to both of them being made out to Quantum”.
“No I don’t agree with that,” Mr White said.
He accepted a defence assertion that he did not have a note of the conversation with Mr Mullin that led to him emailing Ms Freeman with the split invoice instructions.
The trial resumes on Monday before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.
