The building firm Brennan and McGowan has been recalled to the Flood tribunal after it emerged that money it gave to Mr Ray Burke was not the result of fundraising but was owned by the firm. In the case of £60,000, the builders borrowed the money from a bank to pay the former minister, lawyers for the tribunal revealed.
Mr Burke said he was surprised at the revelations, as he had supported Mr Joseph McGowan's evidence last year that the money was raised for his political career.
A total of £125,000 paid to Mr Burke was traced to funds from Camio Ltd, a company two-thirds owned by the builders and registered in the Channel Islands, and to Kalabraki, a company owned by Mr Thomas Brennan. The source of a further £35,000 was queried by the tribunal lawyers.
The £60,000 was borrowed by Camio from Lombard & Ulster on lands mortgaged in Sandy ford. Mr Burke said he had nothing to do with the rezoning of the lands while he was a member of Dublin County Council. The lands were initially zoned for agriculture and later rezoned for development.
The lands were valued at £1.3 million at the time and were expected to increase to £4 million. The £60,000 was paid into an account in 1984 held by Mr Burke's company in Jersey, Caviar Ltd. A further £15,000 was owned by Camio and paid into Mr Burke's account, the tribunal heard.
Kalabraki Ltd, a company owned by Mr Thomas Brennan, paid £50,000 into Mr Burke's account in December 1982.
Camio Ltd was owned by another company, Ard Carn, which was in turn owned in equal share by three companies, according to a statement from solicitors for Brennan and McGowan. The companies were: Gacshe Investments, owned by Mr Joseph McGowan; Kalabraki, owned by Mr Thomas Brennan; and Foxtown Investments, based in Guernsey and owned by a third party who was not identified. All three individuals will appear before the tribunal next Tuesday.
Mr Burke said he had not heard of Camio Ltd until Wednesday, when he received documents from the tribunal. The tribunal is to begin investigating a complaint by Mr Burke's lawyers that AIB did not give the tribunal information about a former branch manager who gave evidence this week. Mr Timothy McHale had disputed an assertion by Mr Burke that he held an AIB account in Bruton Street, London.
Mr Aidan Walsh SC, counsel for Mr Burke, said that a report in yesterday's Irish Times had revealed that AIB paid out £800,000 after complaints by customers after his retirement that Mr McHale had "interfered" with their accounts and he wanted the matter investigated.