Irish ex-bank chief extradited from US to face 33 charges

A former top bank chief returned to Ireland on Monday after being extradited from the United States to face 33 charges over a financial collapse that cost the Irish state 30 billion euros ($33 billion).

David Drumm, the ex-chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, appeared in court for the first time as he awaits possible trial on a series of allegations including false accounting and fraud dating back to 2008 and 2009.

He is expected to be released on bail on Tuesday but will have to spend the night behind bars until the paperwork for his application has gone through.

As part of his bail conditions, he will have to visit his local police station twice a day, surrender his passport and pay a surety of 50,000 euros.

Drumm's lawyer Michael Staines said his client wanted to "stay here and deal with this case and then re-start his life" and did not represent a flight risk.

Drumm left Ireland shortly after the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, which the government was forced to bail out in 2009 to avoid a wider economic fallout.

He had been living in Boston since 2008.

The former banker, who denies any wrongdoing, has spent the last five months in a maximum security prison in Massachusetts.

The nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank came to epitomise the meltdown of Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy.

The charges relate mainly to allegations that Drumm gave a false picture of the bank's stability.

The case is not expected to be heard until next year.