A Saudi diplomat, Mr Mahmoud Fustok, has not responded to tribunal requests for details about an apparent purchase by him for £50,000 of a yearling from the Haughey family in 1985, or to attend to give evidence, it was stated yesterday.
Mr John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal, referred to evidence by Dr John O'Connell that in 1985 Mr Fustok made out a cheque for £50,000 which he said he owed Mr Haughey.
The cheque was made payable to Dr O'Connell who then, at Mr Haughey's request, drew a cheque made payable to cash from his own account.
Mr Coughlan said the tribunal wrote to Mr Fustok last April in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, asking his assistance with the details and circumstances of the payment.
Mr Fustok replied, in June 1999, that he could confirm that £50,000 was paid to the Haughey family for a horse, but that his records did not go back that far.
The tribunal wrote six more times from June 1999 to April 2000, requesting details and asking Mr Fustok to give evidence. A reply on Mr Fustok's behalf was sent in July 1999, stating that he was in Saudi Arabia on diplomatic duties, making it impossible for him to attend. He bought 50 horses every year, but there was no record of the purchase as the London office was closed.
Mr Coughlan said the cheque for £50,000, payable to cash, was dated February 18th, 1985, drawn on Dr O'Connell's account and lodged to an Amiens account in Guinness & Mahon in Mr Haughey's name the next day. Did he know how it came to be lodged there?
"No," said Mr Haughey.
Mr Coughlan asked: "To whom do you believe you would have given the cheque?"
Mr Haughey said he might have passed it to the Haughey Boland company, which operated his bill-paying service. He did not accept that he could have given the cheque to Mr Traynor.
Mr Coughlan said Dr O'Connell in evidence had said that in hindsight he thought the transaction was highly unusual.
"I would not agree with it," Mr Haughey said. His recollection was that Mr Fustok paid for and received a yearling from Abbeville Stud.
Mr Coughlan said that on the face of it, it would appear that no payment went to Abbeville Stud. He asked: "Mr Haughey, why would there be need to obscure the payer and the payee if this was a normal commercial transaction being conducted by Abbeville Stud?"
Mr Haughey replied: "First of all it would give me flexibility and secondly, because I was anxious at all times to keep my own financial affairs as confidential as possible."
Mr Coughlan asked if he had had dealings, meetings or transactions with Mr Fustok after 1985. Mr Haughey said he thought he had had no communication with him.
Asked how often he saw Mr Traynor, Mr Haughey said four, five or six times a year. He disagreed with the evidence of his former private secretary, Ms Catherine Butler, that she arranged meetings for Mr Traynor to meet him every two weeks.
"That wouldn't be correct. Catherine Butler was a super-competent person, but she would be mistaken in that regard," Mr Haughey said.