Political donations made by Bovale Developments were entered in an analysis of the company's expenditure as returned house deposits, the tribunal heard yesterday.
The auditor of the company's accounts, Mr Joseph O'Toole, said he could not explain how this happened.
He was told by counsel for the tribunal, Mr Desmond O'Neill, to reflect on the matter overnight before he resumes his evidence this morning. Mr O'Toole was asked about a document dated June 30th, 1997, which contained an analysis of £76,500 in refunded house deposits. The document was prepared by Mr O'Toole's company of auditors.
Mr O'Neill put it to the witness that payments listed in the company's cheque payments journal as political contributions were later analysed as returned house deposits by his firm.
The auditor accepted there was no reason to do so and that it should have been entered in the donations category.
One of these was a £3,000 political contribution on May 6th, 1997, and two others were political contributions of £1,000 and £3,000 on May 9th, 1997. A further political donation of £2,500 on May 30th, 1997, did not appear in the accounts as a returned deposit or as a donation.
Another political contribution of £4,500 on December 12th, 1996, was analysed as a payment to Dublin Corporation/County Council.
Asked if there were any circumstances under which anybody in his firm, McGrath & Co, would have altered the cheque payments journal, he said his company would have received a summary of the information in it and not the journal itself.
Mr O'Toole agreed that evidence had cast doubt on the accuracy of the accounts he had signed as having been checked and correct.