The sudden interruption of the Moriarty tribunal during the evidence of Mr Michael Lowry yesterday came as a result of undisclosed new information concerning the finances of the former Fine Gael minister.
Mr Lowry was being questioned by counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan SC, when the adjournment occurred. Mr Coughlan was exploring the mystery concerning where Mr Lowry kept £65,000 sterling which he accumulated in payments from Dunnes Stores (Bangor) in the period December 1988 to January 1991.
Mr Lowry, since his resignation from government in December 1996, has been engaged in a detailed examination of his finances. The Moriarty tribunal has also conducted an exhaustive examination of Mr Lowry's finances, armed with a waiver allowing it access to financial information held by any bank in the world in relation to Mr Lowry or members of his family.
Yet neither the tribunal nor Mr Lowry has been able to identify where the £65,000 sterling was lodged. The amount is a significant one in terms of Mr Lowry's profits from his dealings with Dunnes Stores. The bulk of the money was eventually added to other funds from Dunnes Stores to establish a deposit of £100,000 sterling in the offshore account. Mr Lowry repeated his evidence that all of his bank accounts have been disclosed to the tribunal and that it is his belief that the £65,000 sterling was "somewhere in the AIB financial system" in the period up to January 1991.
He had nothing more illuminating than that to say on the matter. He agreed with Mr Coughlan that the money could not have been held in cheque form, as the cheques would have become out of date.
Mr Lowry said the day he opened his offshore account he went alone to AIB O'Connell Street where he purchased a £55,000 sterling draft and had the Jersey account opened. He said he is sure he did not bring cash to the bank, where he has no account. Mr Lowry had a number of accounts with AIB Dame Street.
Mr Liam O'Connell, then an assistant manager at AIB, O'Connell Street, said he can remember being introduced to Mr Lowry in January 1991 in the branch. He does not remember anything further, though he accepts documents show him sending the £55,000 sterling draft for deposit in Mr Lowry's new Jersey account.
There is no evidence that the bank secured the exchange control permission then necessary for sending funds abroad, counsel for the tribunal, Mr Coughlan, pointed out. He also said it was completely contrary to the whole point of exchange control regulations to have an Irish citizen, resident here, opening an investment account abroad.
No permission to do so was sought from the Central Bank, as required, and "for good reason", Mr Coughlan said, as it would have been refused. The point of the regulations was to prevent funds leaving the jurisdiction.
Mr Lowry said it was his view that any matters concerning exchange control regulation were the bank's responsibility. He was being questioned about his dealings involving the Jersey account when Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, returned from a consultation with a solicitor for Dunnes Stores and spoke with his colleague.
Mr Coughlan then sought a short adjournment. He subsequently sought an adjournment to this morning, to allow AIB and Mr Lowry to be informed of the new evidence.
On the face of it, it seems the new information concerns where the various cheques which made up the £65,000 sterling from Dunnes Stores (Bangor) were cashed. The stamped cheques would have been returned to Dunnes.
However, this could not be confirmed last night.
Yesterday, a former insurance broker with J.C. Financial Management Ltd, now dissolved, gave evidence of introducing Mr Lowry to Mr O'Connell at AIB O'Connell Street. Mr Seamus O'Neill said he introduced Mr Lowry to the banker in the hope that directing business towards the branch would improve his company's relationship with it.
However, he said neither he nor his company had any financial dealings with Mr Lowry, and he did not know what, if anything, transpired as a result of his introduction.
Mr Lowry said he accepted Mr O'Neill's evidence but couldn't remember ever meeting him. Mr O'Neill's evidence did nothing to solve the mystery concerning the location of Mr Lowry's £65,000 sterling in the late 1980s.