A FORMER Fine Gael councillor told gardaí he asked a property developer for a loan of €70,000 when his marriage was breaking up, his business was failing and he was behind with his mortgage.
Waterford Circuit Court heard yesterday that Fred Forsey jnr (43), of Coolagh Road, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, swore on his “kids’ lives” to gardaí that the payments were not corrupt and that he was meant to pay them back. None of the money – later increased to €80,000 – was ever returned.
“I was slowly going broke. I was getting into debt and behind on the mortgage and car payments,” he told gardaí, later adding: “At the time it was going on, I was splitting up with my ex-wife because I was having an affair.”
Mr Forsey denies receiving €60,000, €10,000 and €10,000 in three corrupt payments from a developer in 2006.
It is alleged they were given because of his support for land rezoning sought by the developer.
After he was arrested at a wedding in July 2009, Mr Forsey told detectives that, when he called the developer in August 2006 seeking a loan, he said the reason was because he wanted to renovate his house and finish an extension. He said he would pay him back when he got a remortgage.
He initially received €60,000, then got another €10,000 soon afterwards, he told gardaí, and went back for another €10,000 from the developer some months later, as the money was gone.
After receiving the money he went on a family holiday to Rome before his marriage split up; had a holiday with his new partner Karen Morrissey; bought an engagement ring for her, which cost between €1,800 and €2,100; bought windows, curtains and fireplaces for his family home; changed his old car and added another car; and gave money to his ex-wife. The court heard that his bank account was overdrawn by €239.65 on August 24th, 2006. He had €60,000 paid into it by the developer the following day and was overdrawn by €2,033.53 the following December.
In the meantime he had secured €33,000 in refinancing on the house he had shared with his wife.
Mr Forsey denied to gardaí that the developer asked him to lobby in favour of land development outside Dungarvan and repeatedly denied, during interviews, that the payment was corrupt.
“If it was a corrupt payment, it was the worst corrupt payment in history. I couldn’t do anything.”
He said that, as a town councillor, he had no vote in any rezoning of land outside the town.
He moved out of the family home about six weeks after receiving the first payment, Mr Forsey told gardaí, and had been “involved” with Ms Morrissey for “about four to six months” before he moved out.
Earlier, a Fine Gael councillor told the trial how some of her party colleagues voted to rezone a piece of land which was already the subject of a Garda investigation and a ministerial letter.
Cllr Ann Marie Power said that, two years after Mr Forsey was alleged to have received the payments and a year after the piece of land came under investigation by gardaí, some of the land came before Waterford County Council for rezoning as industrial.
The then minister for the environment John Gormley wrote to the council in March 2007 to warn them against rezoning the land, she said, and the county manager’s advice was that it was “inappropriate”. The minister subsequently overturned the 13-8 majority vote in favour of the rezoning.
“There was a Garda investigation ongoing in Waterford, pertaining to this,” she said. “We should never, ever have voted on this rezoning.” The issue caused a “major split” within Fine Gael on Waterford County Council, she said, and there was “a lot of intimidation” in the council chamber at about the time of the vote.
The trial continues.