ACCOUNTANCY: The Northern Ireland businessman who was involved in property deals in Britain with Mr Denis O'Brien, Mr Aidan Phelan and Mr Michael Lowry, says he has made an official complaint to the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) concerning fees.
Mr Kevin Phelan, who is based in Omagh, Co Tyrone, says the complaint relates to fees he is owed for work carried out for Mr Aidan Phelan, an accountant and close associate of Mr O'Brien.
Mr Kevin Phelan is one of two key figures involved in the property deals who the Moriarty Tribunal said last year had declined to give evidence as part of its inquiries into the transactions. The other person was Mr Christopher Vaughan, a solicitor based in Leeds who acted in the transactions and is president of the UK Notaries Society.
Mr Kevin Phelan told The Irish Times he has been in correspondence with the tribunal but has not decided if he will attend to give evidence. He said he was having difficulty getting files in relation to the deal, which he gave to another party early last year.
Sources close to Mr Aidan Phelan said the complaint to the ICAI was vexatious. Mr Kevin Phelan said he rejected this completely.
Last year Mr Aidan Phelan told the tribunal he was in dispute with Mr Kevin Phelan about fees. "I have had some correspondence from him in relation to fees, which I am in dispute," he said.
Mr Kevin Phelan said that, since this evidence was heard, he had conducted detailed negotiations with another accountant in relation to agreeing the fees due to him as a result of the transactions in Britain but, despite believing they had reached agreement, the matter had not been resolved.
Mr Aidan Phelan has since asked a leading figure in the Dublin property scene to arbitrate with Mr Kevin Phelan in relation to the fees issue but Mr Kevin Phelan has rejected the offer.
Mr Kevin Phelan runs a business whereby he locates properties in Britain that he believes might be of interest to investors. The fees he claims are due to him relate to property deals in Cheadle, Mansfield and Doncaster.
In the first two, which involved in excess of £700,000 sterling (€1.14 million), the tribunal has been told they involved Mr Lowry and Mr Aidan Phelan. Mr O'Brien has said he knew nothing about them.
Some of the money used in the transactions came from a London bank account owned by Mr O'Brien. He and Mr Aidan Phelan have said this money was due to Mr Aidan Phelan as a result of a business transaction.
The third property deal involved the grounds of Doncaster Rovers Football Club. This was bought for in excess of £3.5 million. Mr O'Brien purchased the grounds using Walbrook Trustees, a Deloitte and Touche entity based in the Isle of Man.
Mr Lowry has said Mr Kevin Phelan approached him about the property in Cheadle and later introduced Mr Aidan Phelan to the deal. Mr Aidan Phelan helped secure a loan from GE Capital Woodchester to complete the Mansfield deal, which was also introduced to Mr Lowry by Mr Kevin Phelan.
Bank memos recorded Mr Aidan Phelan as saying there was no cause for the bank to worry about the loan as Mr O'Brien was behind it. Mr Aidan Phelan said these memos are mistaken.
Both Mr Aidan Phelan and Mr O'Brien have said Mr O'Brien was not involved in the deals.
Mr O'Brien said he did purchase Doncaster Rovers. Mr Aidan Phelan acted for Mr O'Brien in relation to the purchase. Mr Kevin Phelan and Mr Vaughan were also involved.
Mr Aidan Phelan has told the Moriarty tribunal that it was Mr Kevin Phelan who introduced him to the Doncaster Rovers deal.
