The Moriarty Tribunal is investigating accounts held by the late Mr P.V. Doyle in Guinness and Mahon bank, which may have been used for the benefit of the former taoiseach Mr Charles Haughey.
Mr Doyle, the founder of the Doyle hotel group, had overdraft facilities in Guinness and Mahon amounting to up to £170,000. The accounts were controlled by the late Mr Des Traynor, the close friend and financial adviser to Mr Haughey.
The Ansbacher accounts were funds held in Ireland in the name of a Cayman Islands bank. They were uncovered by the McCracken Tribunal (Payments to Politicians) from Dunnes Stores as accounts from which some of Mr Haughey's living expenses were paid. And a number of other business figures have been linked to them. The accounts are now being investigated by the Moriarty Tribunal.
"It appears possible that the accounts were used for the purposes of accommodating advances by the bank to Mr Charles Haughey," according to a statement from the company.
The Doyle group and representatives of the estate of the late Mr Doyle are co-operating fully with the tribunal, the group's spokeswoman said. A request for a comment from Mr Haughey met with no response. The Irish Times has established that payments to Amiens Investments Ltd, a company mentioned during the McCracken tribunal and which was used to pay the living expenses of Mr Haughey, were made with funds belonging to Mr P.V. Doyle.
When Mr Doyle died in 1988, his accounts with Guinness and Mahon were closed. "The Doyle group discharged the indebtedness on these accounts [amounting to approximately £152,000] on behalf of the late Mr Doyle and these monies were recharged by the group to the late Mr Doyle's estate," the statement, issued in response to queries from The Irish Times, said.
"It appears therefore that the only involvement of the group in connection with this matter was the discharging of the indebtedness of the late Mr Doyle."
It is understood the tribunal has been told that at the time the group was discharging the debt, it was indicated by Mr Traynor that the liability was connected with Mr Haughey. It is known that in May 1983, £40,000 was transferred from one of Mr Doyle's accounts to the Amiens account. In June 1983, £50,000 was transferred. In February 1988, £49,700 was transferred.
The tribunal is also inquiring into a £1 million sterling loan taken out by the Doyle group from Guinness Mahon and Co (London) at the time of the purchase of the Clifton Ford Hotel, in London, in 1983.
The loan is believed to have been backed or secured by a deposit for the same amount lodged with Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust (now called Ansbacher Cayman). The guarantee was given by Guinness and Mahon Dublin, the bank which held the Ansbacher deposits.
The group is understood to have told the tribunal the "back-to-back" loan arrangement was structured by Mr Traynor and that the details were not known to the group at the time. It has said the money was deposited on its behalf by Mr Traynor with Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust.
The group is also in discussion with the tribunal in relation to the sale of Doyle's bakery to Brennan's Bakery in 1991. A 10 per cent deposit of £500,000 paid by Brennan's was lodged by Mr Traynor with Ansbacher (Cayman) on behalf of the Doyle group. The account was opened in the name of Doyle London Hotels Ltd. At the instructions of the group the money was transferred to London and the account closed the following year.