Liam Lawlor admits faking invoice

Former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor has revealed details of how he faked an invoice to hide a £100,000 cash payment he received in connection with the sale of an acre of land attached to his home in Lucan, west Dublin.

Mr Lawlor received the money from property developers Maplewood Homes three years ago. He admitted today that he got a secretary from the office of Seddon solicitors in Prague to type out an invoice on headed paper hiding the real reason for the payment.

He also admitted that solicitor Tony Seddon was unaware of the move.

Last week, Mr Lawlor claimed in evidence that the £100,000 was a finders' fee he received for searching for property in London on behalf of Maplewood Homes.

However, Maplewood property developer Michael Whelan subsequently told the tribunal that this was untrue and that the money was part payment for the acre of land in Lucan. He said Mr Lawlor had asked for the under-the-counter payment and then issued a false invoice to hide the reason he received it.

Earlier today, Mr Lawlor revealed that the Planning Tribunal contacted Seddon solicitors in London over the weekend.

Speaking as he prepared to enter the witness box at Dublin Castle this morning, Mr Lawlor said he himself had also contacted his overseas lawyers to explain to them the urgency surrounding his requests for records of his past financial dealings.

Last week, the tribunal accused Mr Lawlor of failing to co-operate with its investigations and its requests for documents relating to his financial dealings.

Mr Lawlor had claimed that he could not afford to pay his lawyers to search for and retrieve these documents, but the tribunal discovered that he was living on an estimated