Mahon TribunalSolicitor Mr John Caldwell is claiming the former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, "blackmailed" him into paying £685,000 in proceeds from land deals, the Mahon tribunal has heard.
Mr Caldwell alleged that his former business partner blackmailed him by threatening to report the solicitor to the Incorporated Law Society if he didn't pay the money, according to Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal.
Mr O'Neill said he wasn't asserting that the allegation was true, but he asked Mr Lawlor whether the claim had been made by Mr Caldwell.
Mr Lawlor said it had, but it was outrageous for Mr Caldwell to think that his [Mr Lawlor's\] complaint to the Law Society was blackmail. "It was most unfair and wrong."
Mr Caldwell also claimed that Mr Lawlor had "waited in the long grass" until one of the deals, at Coolamber, near Lucan, had been completed before "inventing" a claim for money against him, according to a note made by Mr Caldwell's legal adviser in Jersey, Mr Nicholas Morgan.
Mr O'Neill pointed out there was no indication in the documentation available to the tribunal that Mr Caldwell ever sought to recover the money he paid to Mr Lawlor.
The money Mr Caldwell paid to Mr Lawlor came from two deals in which the two men were involved, for land at Coolamber and Baldoyle. Mr Lawlor, who previously denied any business dealings with Mr Caldwell, has told the tribunal he hasn't seen his former business partner since the 1990s.
Mr O'Neill said the witness had received £350,000 and £335,000 in proceeds from these deals, yet nowhere in the affidavits that he swore had this money, which was banked in Liechtenstein, been linked to the land deals.
He originally indicated that the money came from Czech property developments.
Earlier, the chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, said the version of events provided by Mr Lawlor in the witness box was "completely different" to the story which emerged from a reading of the affidavits he had sworn up to now.
While his affidavit mentioned his involvement in the land deal at Coolamber, it did not give an accurate account of what happened, the chairman said.
Mr Lawlor contended that the affidavit had provided "vast quantums" of information.
However, Judge Mahon again accused Mr Lawlor of inaccuracy: "That's well established. It's taken days, but it's established. It is time we moved on."
Mr Lawlor explained that on his first appearance before the tribunal in 2000, the tribunal had gone "in 40 different directions" and he hadn't been in a position to be as helpful as he was this time.
On that occasion, he had denied having a numbered bank account in Liechtenstein.
He disputed the tribunal's claim that he had eight bank accounts in Liechtenstein. "I had one account in the bank there and I'll dispute the tribunal's claim to my dying day." Mr O'Neill said the witness hadn't even admitted having one account in Liechtenstein.
"I didn't, in the name of Liam Lawlor, have an account," Mr Lawlor replied.
As Mr O'Neill read lengthy notes written by Mr Morgan, Mr Lawlor questioned whether the tribunal was engaging in "an entrapment process" by spending hours asking questions when the answers were available in the documents.
"For God's sake, will you stop wasting the taxpayers' time and money?" asked Mr Lawlor, at which point Mr Mahon adjourned the hearing.
Mr Lawlor's evidence resumes for a ninth day on Tuesday.
