A FORMER Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) officer has given evidence at the corruption trial of George Redmond that he admitted in interview he received £10,000 from Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Dunne.
Det Supt Pat Byrne, told Pauline Walley SC, prosecuting, that the former Dublin assistant city and county manager said in a voluntary statement he had received the money from the late Mr Dunne in relation to the purchase of lands at Buzzardstown in west Dublin.
Det Supt Byrne agreed under cross-examination by Brendan Grehan SC, defending that Mr Redmond later withdrew this admission at the Flood (now Mahon) tribunal.
Det Supt Byrne said Mr Redmond made the admission in 1999 a month after his arrest at Dublin airport by Cab officers in relation to money-laundering and tax-evasion charges. Mr Redmond was arriving back from the Isle of Man, carrying £300,000.
He said Mr Redmond was arrested in the arrivals hall on February 19th, 1999. He was brought to Harcourt Terrace Garda station where he asked to see a doctor, saying “he felt a little unwell”.
After a medical examination, the doctor said he was fit to be interviewed. He was released the next day without charge following his interview.
Det Supt Byrne said that one month later, Mr Redmond came into the station voluntarily and admitted: “I mentioned Pat Dunne who was a member of the county council. He paid me £10,000 in relation to a compulsory purchase order of land in Buzzardstown owned by a man called Seagrave. I don’t know why I was paid the money, but I took it.”
Det Supt Byrne agreed with Mr Grehan, who read a transcript from the tribunal, that when the matter came up there in May 2000, Mr Redmond said his previous admission was “not true.”
“He paid me nothing. I retract that statement and I sincerely apologise to the gardaí for having made it and I apologise to his [Mr Dunne] estate and family”, Mr Redmond told tribunal counsel Desmond O’Neill SC.
“I don’t know what got into me. It was a peculiar business, Buzzardstown,” he said when asked at the tribunal by Mr O’Neill why he made the statement.
Mr Grehan said Mr Redmond told the tribunal he was “pressured” into signing the compulsory purchase order and said he did not think it was necessary because “we didn’t need more local authority houses”.
Mr Redmond said at the tribunal: “We had all this land further up the road and in those days, we were attempting to get tenants in just to prevent vandalism.”
Det Supt Byrne told Mr Grehan that Mr Redmond was carrying £200,000 in cash and about £100,000 in other forms when he and eight other officers arrested him.
He was interviewed three times in relation to tax and money laundering offences, during which he described his situation as “ruinous” He told gardaí: “The world has ceased to exist for me tonight. It’s shattering to say the least. I can’t see myself saying much more. It’s fair to say I had the £200,000 at the airport.”
Det Supt Byrne said he understood Mr Redmond owed the Revenue Commissioners £548,000 which, after interest and penalties, could amount to £2.5 million. He agreed with Mr Grehan that he was forced to sell his house of 30 years to pay the tax bill.
It was day 10 of the trial and Det Supt Byrne was the first witness to give evidence in the presence of the jury after six days of legal argument in its absence.
The hearing continues today.