The Moriarty tribunal is believed to have questioned a leading Dublin stockbroker in connection with the operation of the Ansbacher deposits, the Cayman Islands deposits established by the late Mr Des Traynor.
The stockbroker is believed to have been questioned in private by the tribunal's legal team yesterday in relation to matters referred to in an affidavit presented to the High Court by an official of the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, in July.
The affidavit was presented to the court as part of an application - which was granted - by Ms Harney for the appointment of High Court inspectors to investigate the workings of Ansbacher (Cayman) in Ireland, which operated the Ansbacher deposits.
The tribunal is understood to have intervened yesterday to prevent RTE News from broadcasting a report concerning the Ansbacher deposits and the stockbroker. The item was to have been broadcast on RTE's Six One television news, but was withdrawn after a communication from the Moriarty tribunal 20 minutes before the bulletin.
The stockbroker is a leading figure in one of Dublin's major firms. It is believed that the fact that the news report was to be broadcast in the week he was being questioned by the tribunal was purely coincidental.
The stockbroker could not be contacted for comment last night. Questioned some weeks ago by The Irish Times, after sources said that they believed that he was the author of a "Note to John Furze" - a document referred to in the affidavit prepared on behalf of Ms Harney - he said that this was not the case.
He said he had met Mr Furze, but had never had the kind of dealings with him detailed in the affidavit. He is believed to have appeared voluntarily before the tribunal team.
The late Mr John Furze was a Cayman Island banker and an associate of Mr Des Traynor. The two men were central to running the secretive Anbsacher deposits - funds held by Ansbacher (Cayman) in the Irish banking system on behalf of Irish residents.
The note to Mr Furze, prepared in 1983, outlines how a separate discretionary trust scheme in the Cayman Islands was used to facilitate tax evasion. A section of the note, under the heading "Towards Minimising the Footprints", went into detail about how the transactions involved could be hidden from the tax authorities.
Under the scheme, money, property, shares and other assets would be transferred to a trust by the Irish client, who would cede legal control to the trustee. In practice, however, the trustee would accept the client's instructions.