DAVID DRUMM isn't a household name in the United States, but the man is reviled back home in his native Ireland. ... [Derived Headline]

DAVID DRUMM isn't a household name in the United States, but theman is reviled back home in his native Ireland. The bank Drumm onceran, Anglo Irish Bank, has done more than any other single entity totrash the once-thriving Irish economy. And for a country litteredwith the carcasses of broken banks, that's really saying something.

Drumm fled to Boston not long after Anglo's January 2009nationalization, and has been busy beating back the Irish financialauthorities who want to frog-march him back to Dublin. The Drummcase has become a morality tale for extremes in reacting to thethree-year-old financial crisis. In the United States, the WhiteHouse chose financial stability over retribution, so now fat bonusesand conspicuous consumption are back on Wall Street, andconservatives are howling for the repeal of some rather unambitiouschecks on financial firms. For the Irish, financial stability isn'teven an option anymore. Payback is all that's left.

The government-sanctioned leaders of Drumm's former bank want aBoston judge to hold Drumm responsible for Anglo's severe fall. Ifthe bank gets its way, Drumm will be humiliated and homeless. Andan American judge will have dealt a far harsher punishment to thescourge of Dublin than to any of the engineers of Wall Street'scollapse.

Anglo Irish made money the same way most big banks did during theboom years - it pumped money into real estate with recklessabandon. Its American operation, which Drumm helped launch, financedFan Pier and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It also loaned freely tohighly speculative development deals in Boston, New York, andChicago, on top of an exceedingly frothy mortgage business inIreland and the United Kingdom. The global economic slowdown wipedout many of these loans, and the bank staggered toward the end of2008 in a state of near-insolvency.

In an effort to prop up Anglo's swooning stock price, the bank'schairman ordered his senior staff, including Drumm, to stage apublic vote of confidence and buy up large chunks of the bank'sstock. The bank loaned its executives the cash to facilitate thestock purchases. This sort of insider dealing was common at Anglo:In late 2007, the bank's chairman had $165 million in personal loanshidden from investors.

Drumm took on more than $10 million in debt to buy his share ofAnglo stock, and within months, the stock was worthless. Anglo'sJanuary 2009 nationalization wiped out shareholders, meaning Drummhad borrowed $10 million to buy a stack of paper. He fled to CapeCod in mid-2009, ahead of a series of investigations into Anglo'scollapse, and its secret insider deals.

Anglo followed Drumm to Massachusetts. The bank, now a ward ofthe Irish state, tried to collect on its hefty stock loan. In a bidto head off lawsuits and a public stoning in Dublin, Drumm filed forbankruptcy in Boston. The Anglo loan, which now stands around $12million with interest factored in, was Drumm's only significantliability; he asked a Boston bankruptcy judge to wipe it clean. Thebid initially looked like it might pay off. Drumm's bankruptcytrustee sued Anglo last November, claiming that the stock loan wasfraudulent.

Things changed this month, though. The trustee abandoned its suitagainst Anglo, and instead joined the bank in asking a judge toenforce the $12 million Anglo stock loan. The trustee and the bankare also going after Drumm's wife - who had more than $2 million incash put in her name shortly before the Drumms fled Dublin, who ownshalf of their $2 million Wellesley home, and who is set to receivehalf the proceeds from the forced sale of their $4 million home inChatham. Anglo and Drumm's bankruptcy trustee want to take it all.

It's difficult to overstate the wreckage that Drumm's bank hasleft behind. Anglo's final bailout tab should eclipse 15 percent ofIreland's annual GDP - an astounding figure, considering thatTreasury's bailout of AIG equaled around 1 percent of the USeconomy. Anglo loaned recklessly, slid cash to its own executives,and threw massive parties in the weeks leading up to itsnationalization.

For that, Anglo now wants to take everything Drumm has. And ifAnglo succeeds, it'll be with the assistance of an Americangovernment that would never treat its own ruinous bankers soroughly.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at CommonWealth magazine.His column appears regularly in the Globe.

20mcmorrow

DAVID DRUMM isn't a household name in the United States, but the man is reviled back home in his native Ireland. ... [Derived Headline]

DAVID DRUMM isn't a household name in the United States, but theman is reviled back home in his native Ireland. The bank Drumm onceran, Anglo Irish Bank, has done more than any other single entity totrash the once-thriving Irish economy. And for a country litteredwith the carcasses of broken banks, that's really saying something.

Drumm fled to Boston not long after Anglo's January 2009nationalization, and has been busy beating back the Irish financialauthorities who want to frog-march him back to Dublin. The Drummcase has become a morality tale for extremes in reacting to thethree-year-old financial crisis. In the United States, the WhiteHouse chose financial stability over retribution, so now fat bonusesand conspicuous consumption are back on Wall Street, andconservatives are howling for the repeal of some rather unambitiouschecks on financial firms. For the Irish, financial stability isn'teven an option anymore. Payback is all that's left.

The government-sanctioned leaders of Drumm's former bank want aBoston judge to hold Drumm responsible for Anglo's severe fall. Ifthe bank gets its way, Drumm will be humiliated and homeless. Andan American judge will have dealt a far harsher punishment to thescourge of Dublin than to any of the engineers of Wall Street'scollapse.

Anglo Irish made money the same way most big banks did during theboom years - it pumped money into real estate with recklessabandon. Its American operation, which Drumm helped launch, financedFan Pier and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It also loaned freely tohighly speculative development deals in Boston, New York, andChicago, on top of an exceedingly frothy mortgage business inIreland and the United Kingdom. The global economic slowdown wipedout many of these loans, and the bank staggered toward the end of2008 in a state of near-insolvency.

In an effort to prop up Anglo's swooning stock price, the bank'schairman ordered his senior staff, including Drumm, to stage apublic vote of confidence and buy up large chunks of the bank'sstock. The bank loaned its executives the cash to facilitate thestock purchases. This sort of insider dealing was common at Anglo:In late 2007, the bank's chairman had $165 million in personal loanshidden from investors.

Drumm took on more than $10 million in debt to buy his share ofAnglo stock, and within months, the stock was worthless. Anglo'sJanuary 2009 nationalization wiped out shareholders, meaning Drummhad borrowed $10 million to buy a stack of paper. He fled to CapeCod in mid-2009, ahead of a series of investigations into Anglo'scollapse, and its secret insider deals.

Anglo followed Drumm to Massachusetts. The bank, now a ward ofthe Irish state, tried to collect on its hefty stock loan. In a bidto head off lawsuits and a public stoning in Dublin, Drumm filed forbankruptcy in Boston. The Anglo loan, which now stands around $12million with interest factored in, was Drumm's only significantliability; he asked a Boston bankruptcy judge to wipe it clean. Thebid initially looked like it might pay off. Drumm's bankruptcytrustee sued Anglo last November, claiming that the stock loan wasfraudulent.

Things changed this month, though. The trustee abandoned its suitagainst Anglo, and instead joined the bank in asking a judge toenforce the $12 million Anglo stock loan. The trustee and the bankare also going after Drumm's wife - who had more than $2 million incash put in her name shortly before the Drumms fled Dublin, who ownshalf of their $2 million Wellesley home, and who is set to receivehalf the proceeds from the forced sale of their $4 million home inChatham. Anglo and Drumm's bankruptcy trustee want to take it all.

It's difficult to overstate the wreckage that Drumm's bank hasleft behind. Anglo's final bailout tab should eclipse 15 percent ofIreland's annual GDP - an astounding figure, considering thatTreasury's bailout of AIG equaled around 1 percent of the USeconomy. Anglo loaned recklessly, slid cash to its own executives,and threw massive parties in the weeks leading up to itsnationalization.

For that, Anglo now wants to take everything Drumm has. And ifAnglo succeeds, it'll be with the assistance of an Americangovernment that would never treat its own ruinous bankers soroughly.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at CommonWealth magazine.His column appears regularly in the Globe.

20mcmorrow