QOTD: Irish Bankster edition

In the call, Mr Bowe, who was later appointed Director of Corporate Development when Anglo became the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, briefed Mr Fitzgerald on the meeting and explained the bank's strategy when looking for the €7bn loan.

He says: "Yeah and that number is seven (€7bn) but the reality is that actually we need more than that. But you know the strategy here is that you pull them in, you get them to write a big cheque ... and they have to support their money.

ANGLO Irish Bank pursued a dual strategy of deception and scare tactics to lure the State into a financial trap that eventually cost billions and bankrupted the country.

An Irish Independent investigation has uncovered startling evidence of how senior Anglo executives deliberately misled the Central Bank and Financial Regulator in order to "pull them in" to a bailout situation.

Evidence of Anglo's cynical strategy is contained in the recording of a phone conversation between two senior Anglo executives, and obtained by the Irish Independent.

The recording provides a rare insight into what was going on behind closed doors as the country's most toxic bank careered towards destruction – taking the country's economy with it.