Nama Scandal: No escaping the deal’s bad smell

IT WAS back to the future yesterday at the Public Accounts Committee hearing. Strange goings on at the interface of business and politics. Middlemen pulling in serious bucks. Offshore accounts. Apparent conflict of interest.

The Isle of Man, the delightful bank-friendly Isle of Man. And cops belatedly shaking themselves awake to crack open an investigation. Come back to us, tribunals, all is forgiven.

There is a smell off a deal done by Nama which involved a major writedown of asset value and £7m resting in an Isle of Man bank account. There is no suggestion that any personnel in the National Asset Management Agency acted in a dishonest or corrupt manner. But there’s no getting away from the smell.