O’Callaghan can’t account for £10,000 payment
It emerged a company cheque made out to Mr O’Callaghan personally in 1991 was later paid on to an unknown party.
Bookkeeper Aidan Lucey, who is company secretary of Riga Ltd owned by Mr O’Callaghan, said he would have made out a company cheque to Mr O’Callaghan in 1991 on his instructions.
Mr Lucey said it was not unusual for money to be requested this way and he would have probably lodged the cheque to Mr O’Callaghan’s account himself.
He said Mr O’Callaghan would have told him to put it down as a Quarryvale-related expense.
Mr Lucey admitted if Mr O’Callaghan asked him to make out a cheque to someone like lobbyist Frank Dunlop, he would have done as asked without the need for a cheque to be lodged to Mr O’Callaghan’s account.
The tribunal heard the developer cannot say who got this £10,000 and the cheque is missing.
Tribunal lawyer Patricia Dillon SC then focused on a second £10,000 cheque lodged to Mr O’Callaghan’s personal bank account on October 11, 1991. A sum of £10,000 was withdrawn from Mr O’Callaghan’s account one week later.
The cheque stub relating to this transaction, in Mr O’Callaghan’s handwriting, recorded “cheque to OOC” and “C McGrath” and “in/out”.
Asked to explain these notations, Mr Lucey asked if Mr McGrath “was the guy from Essential Services” who was a contractor to Riga, and Ms Dillon asked if the witness knew at the time that Mr McGrath was a councillor.
Mr Lucey said: “Maybe ten years later.”
In previous evidence it was stated Mr O’Callaghan paid a five-figure legal bill in June 1992 for Mr McGrath, who was then a Fianna Fáil member of Dublin Co Council. A strong supporter of the controversial shopping centre development, Mr McGrath had signed the motion for the rezoning of Quarryvale.
Mr McGrath has told the tribunal he had not repaid the £10,700 legal bill as he had not been invoiced for it. He (McGrath) accepted he got more than £40,000 from the developer in a two-year period.
The amount included donations of £10,000 in October 1991 and £20,000 in November 1993, together with his legal bill of £10,700.
Ms Dillon asked Mr Lucey to explain three payments Mr O’Callaghan’s company Riga Ltd made to Mr Dunlop’s company Shefran Ltd in 1991. The payments included £25,000 dated May 16; £40,000 dated May 30, and £15,000 on June 13.
A handwritten note by Mr O’Callaghan, opposite the payments on the Riga company’s accounts, said “no invoices, June election”. There had been queries by the auditors.
When Mr Lucey was asked what he knew about the payment of £80,000 to Mr Dunlop for the June elections, the witness replied he did not know [the purpose] of any such payment. He admitted he paid the cheques to Mr Dunlop.
He said he did not know anything about the elections until he had seen the documentation.
He told the tribunal he thought the payments were due to Shefran and Mr Dunlop for “promotional fees”.
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