Forged letter: A letter claiming that Bertie Ahern held a bank account in a tax haven was forged, a leading offshore bank confirmed to the Moriarty tribunal in 2003.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Ahern said the allegation that he held an account in Mauritius was one of a number made to the tribunal, along with other false allegations that he had accepted bribes from property developer Owen O'Callaghan.
"I can confirm that correspondence was subsequently forwarded to the tribunal which demonstrates the letter to be a forgery," said Mr Ahern, adding that he had placed the documents in the Dáil Library.
The forged letter, dated 26/6/1993, was written under the name of the managing director of Deutsche Bank (Mauritius) Ltd, Roger Winfield. It sought extra information from Mr Ahern before an account in his name was opened. It asked him to identify the name of the bank to which funds should be transferred and to declare how often he wanted the payments made.
It was signed, allegedly on behalf of Mr Winfield, by a Ms Susan Davies.
Seeking his account number and international sort code number and the standing order sum to be transferred, the letter went on: "We look forward to hearing from you and may I once again thank you for choosing to bank with us."
In February 2003, the Moriarty tribunal wrote to Mr Ahern's solicitor, Frank Ward of Frank Ward and Co, and sent him a copy of the letter purported to have been written by Mr Winfield.
Once approached by Mr Ahern's legal team, Mr Winfield, based at Le Cauden Waterfront, Port Louis, Mauritius, wrote within a day to dismiss the 1993 letter as a forgery.
"I can categorically state that this letter is a fake and was not written by me or any of the staff of Deutsche Bank (Mauritius) Ltd," he told London-based Paul McNaughton, who appears to have researched the matter for Mr Ahern.
"To support this assertion: We do not have, nor ever have had, any banking relationship with Mr Bartholemew (sic) Patrick Ahern.
"The letter is dated June 1993 - we were only awarded our banking licence here in February 1999, and opened for business in June 1999," Mr Winfield went on.
"I myself was not appointed as managing director of the bank until January 1999.
"We have never heard of Susan Davies, and have never employed anyone by that name in Deutsche Bank (Mauritius) Ltd.
"The letterhead is false and does not match the one that we use, an example of which is attached.
"The small print at the foot of the letter is also false: we are licensed under the Banking Act 1988 and not the Finance Act 1986.
"In addition, we are not aware of any company called Deutsche (Worldwide) Limited."
Mr Winfield concluded his letter: "Please let us know if you require any further information."
