DAVID DRUMM HAS filed a legal action against the US government claiming unlawful detention, as he spends Christmas in a maximum security prison in Massachusetts.

The former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus against the US government and the attorney general Loretta Lynch alleging unlawful detention.

Other named defendants include the Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D McDonald and the District of Massachusetts US Marshall John Gibbons.

The petition was filed on Christmas Eve. The story was first reported by the Irish Times’ Simon Carswell earlier today.

Drumm is spending Christmas in the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison 40 miles south of Boston, pending his extradition hearing in March next year.

The 49-year-old has been in custody since he was arrested at his home near Boston on 10 October by US Marshals.

This followed an extradition request from the Irish state. He is wanted in this country on 33 charges relating to transactions while he was chief of the now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank.

They include forgery, conspiracy to defraud, being privy to the falsification of documents, disclosing false or misleading information and giving unlawful financial assistance.

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He was denied release on bail at a hearing on 10 December with Judge Donald Cabell stating in his order:

The Court does find that the seriousness of the charges pending against the defendant in Ireland provides the defendant with an incentive to flee.

Drumm is being represented in his latest legal action by Michael Miguel from the California law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman LLP.