MASTERS COURT: Mr Larry Goodman has rejected allegations of fraud made against him by the Government. The State's largest beef processor said yesterday the allegations - made before the Master of the High Court on Tuesday - were "staged and timed to do maximum damage to him personally and to his companies".

Lawyers acting for the Government accused Goodman group companies of fraud during a motion for discovery heard by the Master of the High Court. They alleged that Goodman group companies fraudulently gave warranties in 1988 that beef they were exporting under a Government export credit insurance scheme was from the Republic. Around 40 per cent of the beef - which was being sold to Iraq - was from outside the Republic, the court heard.

The State cancelled the insurance policy in 1989 and, when the Iraqi government subsequently defaulted, the Goodman Group got into financial difficulties. The company brought an £80 million (€101.6 million) damages case against the Government and the hearing this week was an attempt by the State defence team to get documents from Mr Goodman in order to prepare its case.

Mr Goodman said yesterday that the fraud allegations "are wholly out of place, as the current hearing is confined to determining classes of documents which will be necessary for discovery. The court is specifically not dealing with the merits of the case".

The statement added that the State only added the fraud allegations to its defence in October 2000 "and the company believes that it is a tactic by the State to increase pressure on Mr Goodman to abandon the £80 million claim".

A spokesman for the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, defending the case on behalf of the Government, said: "The allegations of fraud were not added to the State's case at the last minute. It was in the State's statement of defence as filed."

He added: "The reality is that Goodman has not pursued the action over the past 12 years and it is only now coming to court at the insistence of the State - even though the State is the defendant."

The case will come before the Master of the High Court again in February, when lawyers for Mr Goodman will respond to the State's demands for documents. No date has been set for the full hearing.

The Government's lawyers said in court this week they would argue that the insurance contracts against which Mr Goodman is claiming either never existed or were invalid because of fraudulent actions by Goodman companies.