The former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, accumulated an estimated £1,051,360 in assets between 1971 and 1998, excluding his Castleknock home which he sold last month for £750,000, the tribunal heard yesterday.
Making his first appearance before the tribunal since being convicted last month of failure to make tax returns over a 10-year period, Mr Redmond said he did not dispute the figures presented to him by the tribunal.
But he said they did not show capital gains and interest accrued on his savings in the 1980s. He could straight away identify "a figure of between six and seven hundred thousand" which could be accounted for in this regard.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Des O'Neill SC, said the tribunal would be seeking to establish exactly how the growth in his income came about and how much of it was due to payments from other persons whom the tribunal would be seeking to identify.
Mr O'Neill said it appeared that since the 1960s Mr Redmond was in receipt of "substantial, unaccounted for" payments which were a multiple of his "relatively modest" salary as a local authority employee.
Mr Redmond confirmed that much of the money which he accumulated over his working life had been given to his children and grandchildren in the form of "gifts".
In 1986 he gave his son, John, £42,500 with which his son acquired a property at Leeson Park, Dublin, where he and his wife resided. Mr Redmond said he thought he gave his son the gift on the occasion of his marriage, which he believed was later than 1986, but he did not dispute the evidence.
In 1993, £37,000 of Mr Redmond's funds was used to purchase a seaside residence in Cahore by members of his family.
In 1996 he used £67,000 himself to purchase an apartment at Fitzwilliam Court, Dublin.
Also in 1996 Mr Redmond took out two life assurance growth bonds totalling £210,000 in the name of his two sons, John and David. This sum represented the proceeds of a number of previous policies totalling £230,907, the balance of which was transferred into a policy in Mr Redmond's own name.
A further gift to Mr Redmond's son, John, of £42,500, was recorded for 1996. A gift to his other son, David, in 1991 was valued at £86,090. This had risen in value to £110,490 by 1996. Asked whether this was used to enable his son to purchase his home, Mr Redmond replied that he gave it to him on his marriage to spend as he wished.
Mr O'Neill said further gifts were provided to enable the two sons to improve their homes.
Mr Redmond stressed, however: "They were gifts. I wasn't specific as far as I was concerned."
Additional gifts were given to Mr Redmond's grandchildren, including £55,000 to John's children, £20,000 in 1991 and £35,000 in 1993. Asked if he could recall these payments, Mr Redmond said he did not keep a record of what he gave his grandchildren but "certainly on special occasions I did give them something."
Mr Redmond said he believed the figures on this matter came from his son and he would not dispute them.
The tribunal further estimated that Mr Redmond's various bank balances stood at £373,680 in total for the end of 1998. Mr Redmond said he could not be certain this was correct but he was conscious the tribunal would not make up "spurious figures".
For the same year, Mr Redmond had cheques totalling an estimated £94,783 and a shareholding of £40,000. He disputed the second estimate, saying he believed the figure was only £20,000.
Mr Redmond further disputed an estimate of £800,000 placed on his home at Deerpark Lawns in Castleknock, Dublin, for 1998. He told the tribunal he had sold it within the past month for £750,000.
Asked if he accepted that the value 15 months ago would have been similar, Mr Redmond replied: "It's a lottery at the moment. I believe I got a very good price but to go back a couple of years ago you could easily drop that by a third." He noted the house next door to him sold for around £230,000 a few years ago.
Mr O'Neill explained that the estimates used by the tribunal were based on bank records and documentation seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, including Mr Redmond's personal diary for 1988.
The tribunal had been also provided with some information from Dublin Corporation. However, Mr Redmond's personal file, showing actual salaries and PAYE deductions, was not available. Mr O'Neill said Dublin Corporation believed the file "was either mislaid or destroyed in the relocation of its offices".
Mr O'Neill noted that the tribunal had for the past 18 months been anxious to receive a detailed statement from Mr Redmond on his financial transactions, including the identity of the persons who may have provided benefits to him and the services, if any, provided by him in return. "To date limited information only has been provided, notwithstanding assurances that such information would be furnished," he said.
