FORMER Anglo Irish Bank boss David Drumm allegedly paid himself a monthly salary of €6,000 -- despite filing for bankruptcy.

He also lent his brother thousands of dollars and splashed out on two luxury cars at a time when he claimed he was struggling for cash last year.

Details of his lavish spending habits have emerged during a bankruptcy hearing in Boston.

He moved to the US after quitting Anglo just before the bank was nationalised in January 2009 and has refused to return to Ireland to face garda questioning over his role in its downfall. Anglo is now pursuing him for €8.5m that it says he owes them.

The court heard how how paid himself a salary of €6,325 a month from his financial advisory business, even though he only had two customers.

Despite his bankruptcy application, he also made a €4,200 loan to his brother.

In further major spends, he splashed out more than €48,000 on a Range Rover in 2009 as well as staying in some of the most expensive hotels in New York during a business trip there. And when he sold his SUV the following year, for €34,500, he upgraded it for a newer model, costing €50,600.

Details of his spending habits emerged during questioning by lawyers for Anglo, which is opposing his discharge as a bankrupt.


Brother

Asked why he sold his 2009 Range Rover, he replied: "It wasn't a good car."

When it came to the issue of giving his brother a loan, in the wake of his bankruptcy application, he said how his sibling had "needed the money".

The hearing also heard how he began transferring assets to his wife, Lorraine Drumm, in September 2008 at the height of the world financial crisis. She had not held her own bank account prior to this.

Attorney Kenneth Leonetti spent much of the hearing demonstrating that the money the former banker claimed to have borrowed from his wife was derived from salary and bonuses from Anglo.

These totalled €13m between 2004 and 2009.

The hearing continues.