Burke could face tax bill of several million for corrupt payments

DISGRACED former minister Ray Burke could face a tax bill of up to several million euro in relation to corrupt payments from property developers.

The Criminal Assets Bureau is expected to demand that the former Fianna Fáil minister pay back the 250,000 which the Flood report estimated he received from businessmen.

CAB is also thought to be building a case in relation to the estimated 3.1m profit the former north Dublin deputy pocketed from the sale of Briargate, the mansion built for him by builder Tom Brennan.

The interim Flood Tribunal report found that there was no record of any payment for the house, located on one-and-a-half acres in Swords, and that Burke received it as part of a corrupt payment.

CAB is expected to request that Burke make a settlement with them on profits from the sale. They could also hit him for interest.

However, this could take some time as CAB cannot use evidence gathered by the Flood Inquiry and will have to build up their own case.

But CAB investigators have already compiled a lot of information and have added to that considerably following last Friday’s raid, on foot of a search warrant, on Mr Burke’s home at Griffith Downs in the Whitehall area of Dublin.

They also searched at least five business premises, including a solicitor’s office and an accountancy firm.

CAB officers took away crates of documents in the raids and will spend the coming weeks going through them.

It has been reported that CAB and the National Bureau of Fraud Investigation uncovered offshore accounts which Burke controls and where proceeds of the sale of Briargate were lodged.

CAB does not have to arrest Burke in order to make a tax settlement, but can arrest him if they believe he is not cooperating fully in the settlement.