Judge in Nama fraud trial starts summing up case

The judge in the long-running fraud trial of Belfast businessman Frank Cushnahan has started summing up the case.

The 84-year-old defendant has been on trial for the past four months.

He has been charged in relation to his role as an adviser to the National Asset Management Agency, known as Nama, which was set up in 2009 after the property crash.

He denies a charge of fraud by failure to disclose information in 2013.

Cushnahan, from Alexandra Gate, Holywood, County Down, has been a prominent businessman in Northern Ireland over many years, working in both the private and public sector.

The jury in the trial has been told they will be starting their deliberations on Thursday.

The judge, Madam Justice McBride, told the jury to clear their minds of emotion when reaching their verdict.

"You must leave prejudice and sympathy to one side," she said.

"You must decide this case fairly in light of the evidence and nothing else."

She told the 12-member jury that if they concluded the defendant was guilty, they must be "sure".

"The prosecution must prove the defendant is guilty, the defendant does not have to prove anything," she said.

The judge thanked the jury for their attention and patience during the "very long" trial.

On Wednesday morning, a defence barrister completed his closing speech in the trial.

Frank O'Donoghue KC told the jury: "Mr Cushnanan is completely innocent of this ridiculous charge and, ladies and gentlemen, the relentless pursuit of Mr Cushnahan must end this week - and that is something that is in your gift and your gift only.

"I urge you to call an end to this nonsense and find him not guilty of this charge."

The case dates back to 2013 when Cushnahan was an advisor to Nama and there was the potential sale of its Northern Ireland loan book after the financial crash.

It is alleged that between April and November that year, he provided assistance to an American firm called Pimco but did not tell Nama, even though, the prosecution says, he was under a legal duty to do so.

At the time, Pimco was interested in buying the Northern Ireland loan book from Nama.

In the end, it was sold to another firm, Cerberus, in a deal worth more than £1bn.

It is alleged that by failing to disclose information to Nama, Mr Cushnahan was in a position to make a gain for himself or someone else.

The charge is denied.

The trial at Belfast Crown Court is being held before a jury of nine men and three women.

Nama is the Republic of Ireland's "bad bank", set up to deal with toxic loans after the 2008 property crash.

The agency was established by the Irish government in 2009.

It was responsible for recovering the value of problematic loans made by other Irish banks during the Celtic Tiger period.

Nama bought these loans (land and property and associated loans) at a discount and sold them.

The Northern Ireland loan book was packaged into one portfolio, to be sold in one lump.

That portfolio was called Project Eagle.