Former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor has told "a tissue of lies" to conceal his involvement in the acquisition of lands at Coolamber in west Dublin, according to Judge Alan Mahon.
The tribunal chairman accused Mr Lawlor of telling "a blatant lie" about a £203,000 (€257,757) cheque paid by his company, Advanced Proteins Ltd (APL), to a firm of solicitors in 1987.
Mr Lawlor told tribunal lawyers examining his accounts in 2000 that this cheque was a refund to beef baron Larry Goodman for unspent funds used in a blood plasma project that never got off the ground.
However, the tribunal later discovered the money was used to buy the Coolamber land now under investigation by the inquiry. Mr Goodman loaned Mr Lawlor £350,000 for this purpose, which was paid into APL's account.
Mr Lawlor yesterday acknowledged the cheque, made out to Binchys Solicitors, was used to fund the purchase of the 55 acres at Coolamber until a bank loan came through.
However, asked whether he accepted he had lied to the tribunal in 2000, he said he hadn't, because he hadn't been asked about the land.
"No way was it a blatant lie," he told Judge Mahon. "I wasn't asked one iota about Coolamber."
It was for Goodman International to give Binchys clearance to release information about the cheque, he argued.
Judge Mahon pointed out that the tribunal knew nothing about Coolamber at the time.
Judge Gerald Keys asked Mr Lawlor if he was serious in his reply. "You're either a very stupid man - and I don't believe you are - or you're not telling the truth." He called on the witness to look at the transcript of the evidence from 2000 and asked how he could give the reply he had on oath.
"I wasn't asked it," Mr Lawlor replied. "It was a Goodman issue, not a Liam Lawlor issue."
Judge Mary Faherty said Mr Lawlor could have given a "very simple reply" to the effect that he had given Binchys the money to acquire the land at Coolamber.
Mr Lawlor said he hadn't been asked this.
He didn't feel he had the liberty to speak on Mr Goodman's behalf because he wasn't an employee.
Senior counsel Des O'Neill, for the tribunal, said the only conclusion to be drawn from Mr Lawlor's evidence in 2000 was that he had adopted a position of "positively concealing" his involvement in acquiring Coolamber.
"Not at all," Mr Lawlor replied.
On Thursday, Mr O'Neill pointed out that the money in APL's account was used in the main to fund matters that had nothing to do with the company. Much of the money came from Mr Goodman and Tom Gilmartin also made payments.
Mr Lawlor had provided documents that explained £228,000 in expenditure, out of a total of £540,000 lodged to the account, counsel said.
Of this, only £37,000 related to APL and the rest was personal expenditure.
Mr Lawlor said the account was used to pay office overheads and travel to Argentina, where equipment for the blood plasma project was to be sourced, and "other outgoings".
"It's all jumbled up there in one account," Mr Lawlor said.
According to Mr O'Neill, however, the account was used to fund personal spending, including the purchase of Mr Lawlor's Mercedes car, stud fees and veterinary bills for fillies and foals.
"It's a personal account, nothing to do with blood plasma project funding or anything of that nature."
Mr Lawlor described himself as "the dreamer, the believer, the visionary" who had put together the project to buy Coolamber but claimed others were "on the pitch" against these ideals.
