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Ex-Anglo Irish Bank head agrees to be sent home to face charges

By Scott Malone

BOSTON (Reuters) - The former head of Anglo Irish Bank agreed in a Boston courtroom on Thursday to be extradited to his native Ireland to face criminal charges related to the bank's collapse.

U.S. officials arrested David Drumm, 49, at his home in the wealthy Boston suburb of Wellesley on Oct. 10 after Irish officials asked that he be sent back to face a 33-count criminal indictment related to the collapse of the bank, which was nationalized in early 2009 in a takeover worth some 30 billion euro ($33.8 billion).

Drumm, who has been held in federal custody since his arrest and has denied any wrongdoing, was brought into court wearing a green prison jumpsuit, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Mr. Drumm would like to waive his right to a probable cause hearing and consent to extradition under the treaty," defence attorney Daniel Fetterman told Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell before submitting Drumm's signed agreement.

Drumm made only brief comments in court, indicating to the judge that he understood the proceedings and had voluntarily agreed to be extradited.

Drumm faces charges in Ireland including forgery, conspiracy and false accounting for fraudulent loans the bank made in 2008 intended to help prop up its share price, which was plummeting during the global financial crisis.

An Irish court in July sentenced three lower-ranking executives of the bank to serve 18 to 36 months in prison, making them the first bankers jailed since the country's financial crash.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sandra Maler)