Lawlor’s Prague dealings ‘unclear’

PRAGUE’S Irish business community profess they knew little about Liam Lawlor’s dealings in the Czech capital.

They saw him about town but he did his own thing, those contacted yesterday said. His Prague dealings were the subject of extensive investigation by the Mahon Tribunal.

In more recent years, as it became clear he could do little or no business in

Ireland, Prague became a second home. He was involved, it seems, in property development, though as with much of his business dealings, it’s not clear exactly what he did or who he was involved with.

It appears he was looking further afield before his death on Saturday. The Moscow visit, to meet business contacts with property in Prague, was his first visit to the capital, diplomatic sources said.

A solicitor who acted for Liam Lawlor in Prague was generous in his praise of some aspects of the west Dublin man’s personality, despite being the subject himself of tribunal scrutiny.

Tony Seddons, who spent uncomfortable days being quizzed by the Mahon Tribunal, is, not surprisingly, less keen on Lawlor the businessman.

“A gregarious character. If you wanted to go out for a drink or a dinner, you could not think of better company,” said Mr Seddons. However, their professional relationship ended with the tribunal disclosures over an alleged forged invoice for £100,000 (€147,569) and allegations of using the Seddons Prague office to launder money.

The two men had a reasonably close professional relationship, with Lawlor claiming he had a “free run” of the Prague office for 12 years.

Lawlor admitted he used Seddons notepaper for the invoice, without the company knowing. He had received the money as a secret cash payment relating to the sale of an acre of land beside his home in Somerton, Lucan.

Lawlor blamed Seddons for his failure to hand over a large number of documents to the tribunal. He claimed the solicitor’s firm, based outside Ireland, did not believe it was bound by the rules of the tribunal. Mr Seddons subsequently had to make clear his firm was ready to co-operate.

Some further information has emerged about his work in Prague over the years, thanks to the tribunal.

He first began working there in the early 90s as a consultant. Later he was listed as a member of the supervisory board and a shareholder in the Prague- registered The Irish Consortium.

He was also connected to the Czech company, Zatecka 14 SRO. This earned him between £400,000 (€590,200) and £1 million (€1.48m) in a property deal in September 2000. Zatecka acted as mediator in the purchase of a building in Prague by an Irish firm.

The then Flood Tribunal heard that he had drawn two loans, for a total of £600,000, in the Czech Republic to pay bank debts here. He said the money came from an “associate partner” of his in Prague, Longwater Investments.