How Wellesley wound up in the middle of the Anglo Irish Bank mess

UPDATE: One reader wrote in to say that at least 1 other Anglo Irish exec lived in Wellesley, though back in the early 2000s. A swell guy who was here to do real estate deals, but was called back to Ireland around 2005 and later left the company.

Anglo Irish Bank, the scandal-plagued financial institution that was  nationalized by Ireland last year to save it from going under, is big news overseas, sharing the spotlight with Prince William and his fiancee.  But increasingly, the bank that will cost Irish taxpayers billions to clean up after has become big  local news as well.

David Drumm, the ex-CEO, now has a house in the Cliff Estates section of Wellesley as well as one in Chatham, and the Irish press is making sure everyone knows it.

The Irish Independent Tuesday featured a story headlined: “He’s ‘broke’, but Drumm hires decorators for his $2m mansion”, referring to his Wellesley home (which as we all know around here hardly qualifies as a mansion by Cliff Estate standards). The story notes that Drumm last month filed for Chapter 7  (a hearing on his bankruptcy case was delayed Tuesday in Boston.) Drumm is no stranger to the area, having been sent here in the 1990s by Anglo to set up a U.S. base for the business, according to a BusinssWeek report.

One recent Irish Daily Mirror headline read: “Not bad for a bankrupt; Banking crisis Drumm’s luxury.” The article reads in part: “The sprawling house, the immaculately manicured grounds and the top-of-the-range gas-guzzler outside the massive four-car garage come as standard in this VIP neighbourhood…. Former Anglo chief Drumm, who claims he is “sick to his stomach” about what happened, now lives in Wellesley – Boston’s most sought-after suburb where he rubs shoulders with the rich and famous.”

Separately, The Irish Times reported on Anglo seeking to question Drumm about his residency status in the U.S.  Anglo wants Drumm to pay back millions of dollars in loans.  Fraud police in Ireland want Drumm, who has set up a financial advisory service,  to answer questions in Europe. Meanwhile, Drumm has filed counter-claims of his own involving invalid termination and citing “mental distress” over the whole ordeal.