MR George Redmond told the tribunal yesterday he stored tens of thousands of pounds in cash in his Dublin home with other funds in 38 bank accounts.
His records for May 1984 showed he had £35,000 in cash in the bathroom, £12,000 in the kitchen and £8,000 in cheques.
Among his 38 bank accounts was an offshore account in the Isle of Man opened with £105,000 in 1986 after DIRT tax was introduced in the State. Mr Redmond denied, however, this was the reason he opened the account, saying it was "widespread practice" at the time to have an offshore account. "In that regard I was no different to possibly thousands," he said.
For some accounts he used the addresses of friends and relations. These included one friend, now dead, who consented to addresses at Hollybrook and Crosby House in Dublin being used.
He also used the addresses of a brother-in-law in Belfast, a sister-in-law in Northampton, England, and a cousin in Mijas Costa, Spain, for accounts. Many were registered under the name Seoirse MacReamoinn.
Mr Redmond accepted he was the beneficial owner of these accounts, although different addresses were used. Explaining the large number of accounts, he said some were "superfluous" as they were opened automatically by banks after deposits had passed a certain total.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Des O'Neill SC, questioned Mr Redmond on his recollection of the sources of funds, particularly those recorded in his 1988 diary. Mr Redmond calculated that on January 11th of that year he had funds of £566,000 available to him, including £45,000 attributed to "L.S.", £94,300 attributed to "own" and £62,800 attributed to "Maureen".
Mr Redmond said he did not know what these referred to. He said he was never very good at keeping accounts. His general policy was to look at a statement and if it seemed all right he would tear it up. He said the last figure appeared to relate to his wife, who had some assets of her own and who earned a wage which he "allowed her to retain".
Further entries showed the calculation of his funds had increased to £599,000 by March 1988, £660,000 by July and £686,000 by October.
