DUBLIN (AP) — A judge has dismissed 13 fraud charges against two former executives of Anglo Irish Bank, the reckless lender that drove Ireland to the brink of national bankruptcy, as authorities continue to seek criminal convictions against directors of the ruined company.

To the visible surprise of the defendants, the judge overseeing the 10-week-old trial issued a partial acquittal order Wednesday after prosecutors finished their case against Sean FitzPatrick, Pat Whelan and Willie McAteer. The men’s defense in Ireland’s most complex financial criminal case begins next.