Former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, faces possible perjury charges after the Mahon Tribunal found yesterday that he had "repeatedly lied" in his evidence. Alison Healy reports.
Tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon said he would now refer two sections of Mr Lawlor's evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr Lawlor was also warned that he may have to pay the costs of the "compliance" module.
The tribunal found yesterday that Mr Lawlor had complied with an order for discovery, however belatedly. Judge Mahon said the tribunal had no statutory provision to refer Mr Lawlor to the High Court as a punishment for his belated compliance.
The tribunal chairman found Mr Lawlor had "repeatedly lied to the tribunal" during his evidence which began on July 8th.
He was "evasive, dismissive, unco-operative, obstructive and lacking in co-operation to a degree which can only amount to a very serious attempt to knowingly mislead, obstruct and hinder the tribunal in its work," Judge Mahon said.
The tribunal order of March 12th, 2003, required all documents from Mr Lawlor concerning the sale of approximately one-acre at his property in Somerton, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Judge Mahon said Mr Lawlor had sworn an affidavit in relation to this that was "clearly deficient in both form and substance". After some warnings, he was summoned to give evidence on the issue on July 8th.
While the tribunal was satisfied that "untruthful evidence" was knowingly given by Mr Lawlor since July 8th, Judge Mahon said the witness had shown a "blatant disregard for the truth" on two particular occasions.
The tribunal chairman singled out evidence given relating to an explanation for payments to Mr Lawlor of £100,000 and £17,500 sterling by Mr Michael Whelan/Maplewood Holdings /Lunar Sea Developments. He also pointed to evidence given by Mr Lawlor relating to an invoice on a bill heading purporting to be from Seddons Solicitors.
He directed that the relevant transcripts of this evidence, together with other relevant documentation be referred to the DPP to enable him to decide if any further action is appropriate.
"This referral of course in no way inhibits the Director of Public Prosecutions from examining other evidence given by Mr Lawlor and others, should he wish to do so," Judge Mahon said.
The tribunal also "totally rejected" Mr Lawlor's contention he did not have the funds to pay for legal advice relating to the discovery order.
This contention was "totally false and grossly exaggerated", Judge Mahon said.
He said the tribunal could have chosen to stand down Mr Lawlor and have him referred to the High Court in July, but it believed it would obtain the relevant documentation earlier by extracting the information from Mr Lawlor under oath.
Since July, Mr Lawlor had discovered and delivered some 17,000 additional pages of documentation, the most recent as late as September 12th, some six months after the making of the initial order.
Mr Lawlor's non-compliance also related to the provision of documentation held by Seddons Solicitors in London and Prague. Judge Mahon said much of this documentation was only provided by Mr Lawlor in September.
By then, the tribunal had secured the agreement of Mr Tony Seddon, solicitor, to give evidence "which he subsequently did at considerable expense to the tribunal and resulting in further additional delay to the tribunal".
He advised Mr Lawlor that the tribunal was now considering recovering some or all of the costs of the "compliance" module from Mr Lawlor.
He said Mr Lawlor was free to make a submission, outlining why this should not happen. Mr Lawlor may make an oral submission on Tuesday, October 7th, or may make a written submission before then.