Drimnagh Credit Union fined €125,000 over payments made to directors

Drimnagh Credit Union has been fined €125,000 by the Central Bank for illegally paying directors and for a number of other breaches of regulations.

The prohibited payments were made between August 2013 and November 2014 to certain directors and to a member of the Board Oversight Committee.

Credit Unions are prohibited from paying directors, as positions are supposed to be filled by volunteers.

The Credit Union was also found to have failings in relation to the implementation of procedures to detect/prevent money laundering.

Drimnagh Credit Union has more than 7,300 members, and in a statement said it has cooperated fully with the Central Bank investigation.

The statement said: “Drimnagh Credit Union can assure members that their savings and deposits are not affected in any way, and can continue to do business with the credit union in the usual way.”

The case taken against Drimnagh Credit Union is the third enforcement case which the Central Bank has taken since it was given full sanctioning powers in 2013.