One of the icons of Irish rugby (capped 55 times between 1984 and 1995) stole more than €500,000 from the bank where he was managing director from 2011 to 2013.
Brendan Mullin has 55 Ireland caps between 1984-1995
British newspapers described Brendan Mullin’s story as “an incredible fall from paradise”.
He had handed over his passport
The former Irish rugby star, now 61, was jailed for 3 years for stealing from Bank of Ireland Private Bank, considered a sort of “bank for the rich”, whose managing director Mullin was between 2011 and 2013.
A court found Mullin guilty of stealing over €500,000 from the bank. The Irishman was also convicted of fraud and false accounting. In total, he was found guilty of 12 of the original 14 counts.
Mullin had already been arrested in 2021 at the start of the investigation, which ended with the trial sentencing him to 3 years, and was released on bail after surrendering his passport.
He played in 3 World Cups
Mullin, who played 55 games for Ireland between 1984 and 1995 and took part in 3 World Cups in a green shirt, had become the focus of an investigation involving a company called Spice Holdings.
According to the judges, Mullin had transferred €500,000 from Bank of Ireland Private Bank to this company, money which was never returned to the bank. In addition, according to the ruling, Mullin also embezzled €61,000 from the bank to pay personal legal fees, and used other funds to make payments to Beechwood Partners’ accountants.
In total, the Irishman was convicted of stealing 573,281 euros from the bank. In theory, in 2015, Mullin had tried to cover up the matter by arranging a repayment of 500,000 to Bank of Ireland Private Bank through his company, called Quantum, but that money ended up in another account.
As a detailed investigation by the Irish Times reported, before becoming CEO, Mullin joined the bank in 2010 as a “rainmaker” because of his reputation for former Irish international. Then, the following year, he was promoted despite having no specific skills and surrounded himself with expert bankers to guide his decision-making.
Brendan Mullin, a brilliant career
Brendan Mullin was one of the most representative rugby players of the Irish national team (which in rugby forms a single national team, which unites Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland).
Until 2002 he also held the record for successful tries in the green shirt, 17. He also boasts a presence in the British & Irish Lions.
She played in 3 World Cups (1987, 1991 and 1995) and played in 9 Five Nations: from 1985 to 1992, then in 1995. At the end of her career, she was briefly chairman of London Irish, a club that plays in The English Premiership, before devoting himself to investment and the economy.
