A salary of £29,000 p.a. but official had balance of £660,000

In 1988 Mr George Redmond was maintaining a "running balance" of £660,000 when his annual gross salary was £29,000, the tribunal…

In 1988 Mr George Redmond was maintaining a "running balance" of £660,000 when his annual gross salary was £29,000, the tribunal was told.

Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Patrick Hanratty SC, said it was clear an "extraordinary" number of payments had been paid to Mr Redmond, the assistant Dublin city and county manager at the time.

Mr Hanratty said entries from Mr Redmond's diary for 1988 showed a range of sums which totalled £660,000, even though his total net salary between 1980 and 1989 came to about £150,000. He said Mr Redmond had used the diary to "tot up" his financial resources at the time.

The counsel said several entries could not be explained by the tribunal's legal team.

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When asked to explain where the money originated, Mr Redmond replied: "I did nothing unlawful." He added that he was "a very heavy saver and retainer, and over the years I made investments of various sorts".

The diary included a figure for £92,000 with the initials CR, denoting the company Credit Finance, beside it. "It is just a figure written down," said Mr Redmond. Mr Hanratty said Mr Redmond was "being coy" and that it was obvious it was a balance Mr Redmond had with Credit Finance at the time.

Another item was the words "176 units", and Mr Hanratty asked Mr Redmond if he had unit investments at that time for £176,000. Mr Redmond said he would need information from a financial institution to confirm what the entry meant.

Another figure was for £139,000, the balance of what Mr Redmond held in an Isle of Man bank account, according to Mr Hanratty.

A figure of £101,000 was written down beside the word "Shield", which Mr Hanratty suggested referred to holdings with Shield Insurance.

Mr Redmond said he noted the word "Shield" but could not elaborate further.

Mr Hanratty also dealt with large sums Mr Redmond lodged to his bank accounts during 1988 and 1989. He said £171,000 in lodgements, excluding inter-bank transfers and interest, were made to Mr Redmond's bank accounts in 1988. In 1989, Mr Hanratty said, the total lodgements to his bank accounts amounted to £94,924, excluding interest and inter-account transfers.

Counsel said such lodgements would suggest Mr Redmond was in receipt of substantial payments apart from those earned through his employment. When asked where the money arose from, Mr Redmond replied: "It's a question of savings over the years, accretions. I would have to make a very thorough examination to answer a question like that."

Mr Hanratty pointed out that the figures were for lodgements, not cumulative amounts held in accounts. "The cumulative figure from 1988 of lodgements from 1986 amounted to £395,000 and the cumulative figure for 1989 amounted to £489,000."

Asked again about the source of the funds, Mr Redmond said: "I would have to be given the opportunity to examine them, and see if I can give an explanation for them."

Mr Hanratty said the figures had been itemised for Mr Redmond with the amounts and the bank accounts where they were held. Mr Redmond said it was possible he had disposed of the money "by spending".

"Do you remember buying a nice car or anything? You would have certainly bought a nice car in 1989 with £25,000."

Mr Redmond said he did not. The £25,000 was given to him by Mr Gogarty on behalf of JMSE.

Mr Hanratty then took Mr Redmond through several individual lodgements to his bank accounts in the period 1988-89. He said at his Ulster Bank savings account in Dublin Airport, in the name of Seoirse O'Reamoin, a lodgement was made on June 22nd, 1988, of £32,921. Mr Redmond said he could not relate this figure to the sum paid to him by Mr Gogarty.

When asked where that money came from, Mr Redmond said: "I've no recollection."

"Mr Redmond, £32,000 is a very substantial sum of money by any standards. It is particularly substantial to a person who is earning less than that figure as his gross total income per annum. Are you saying to the tribunal you have no idea where you got the £32,921 lodged on June 22nd, 1988?"

"At the present time I couldn't identify it, no," replied Mr Redmond.