Payments to Bertie Ahern
From Mahon Tribunal
Original allegation
Property developer Tom Gilmartin has said that he had been told sometime in 1992 by fellow property developer Owen O'Callaghan that Bertie Ahern TD had been paid by Mr O'Callaghan the sum of £80,000 made up of £50,000 in 1989 and £30,000 on an unspecified date, probably in 1992.
Mr Gilmartin said that he was told by Mr O'Callaghan that the £30,000 was paid to Mr Ahern while he was Minister for Finance in order to block the tax designation being sought by Green Properties Limited in respect of its rival development at Blanchardstown, County Dublin.
Following this allegation, the Tribunal examined the bank accounts of Mr Ahern. In an order for discovery Mr Ahern was required to:
"discover all accounts held in any financial institution, whether held within or outside the State, in his own name either individually or jointly or for his benefit or into which he made lodgements of money or into which he caused or procured lodgements of money to be made or into which lodgements of money were made for his benefit".
Mr Ahern has claimed that he held no bank account in his own name until December 1993. Up to then, he claims, he held all of his savings in cash, at safes located in St Luke's in Drumcondra, and at Government Buildings.
Between opening his first bank account in AIB O'Connell Street in December 1993 and December 1995 - a period of two years - £201,189.11 was lodged into his accounts. Most of these lodgments are thought to have been Sterling cash lodgments. One is believed to have been a US Dollar lodgment, though Mr Ahern denies this.
Tribunal leak
In September 2006 a story appeared in the Irish Times, detailing some of the reasons Ahern was going to use to justify large cash lodgments to his bank accounts. Journalist Colm Keena based the story on a leaked letter from the Tribunal to businessman David McKenna inquiring about payments he may have made to Bertie Ahern around Christmas 1993.Irish Times
There has been no progress in determining the source of the leak. The Tribunal's legal team has floated the possibility that Mr McKenna was responsible, but he has denied this under oath. (Day 797 Q1070)
Following several days of controversy, Mr Ahern did an interview on RTE television with anchor Bryan Dobson Dobson interview. During the interview he elaborated on the story leaked to the Irish Times and detailed two alleged digout payments, and a Manchester payment. Since then, much of what Mr Ahern said in the interview has come under scrutiny.
See:
Lodgments
This is a list of all known lodgments to accounts controlled by Bertie Ahern. It includes accounts in the names of Celia Larkin, Georgina Ahern and Cecilia Ahern.
Bank loan, £19,115.97, December 23, 1993 (AIB)
Bertie Ahern faced a legal bill following the conclusion of his legal separation from Miriam Ahern. This legal bill amounted to £19,115.97. Mr Ahern's friend, Gerry Brennan, now deceased, acted for Mr Ahern as his solicitor. Most of this sum related to money that was owed to Mr Brennan himself.
At the same time and apparently unaware of alleged fundraising on the part of his friends (the first £22,500), Mr Ahern approached AIB with a view to getting a loan. On December 23, 1993, he went to the O'Connell Street branch in order to apply for a loan. He was given the loan without the normal lending criteria being applied. On the same day, he also signed a declaration which was required by law to open a Special Savings Account (SSA). This account would be used the following week to hold the first lodgment of £22,500. AIB assistant manager Philip Murphy facilitated the loan to Mr Ahern.
The £19,115 loan was used to pay a £5,000 contribution which was going towards Mr Ahern's wife's legal costs. £1,302.36 was required to discharge a car loan and £12,813.26 was to meet Mr Ahern's legal costs, charged by Mr Brennan.
£22,500, December 30, 1993 (AIB)
In December of 1993, Bertie Ahern claims that he had cash savings of £54,000. Once his marital seperation was complete he was met with a legal bill, which he discharged via an AIB loan. He did not use any of his alleged cash savings.
Despite knowing that Mr Ahern had £54,000 in cash savings, and that Mr Ahern had already discharged his legal bills with the AIB loan (Day 825 Q35), Mr Ahern's solicitor Gerry Brennan felt that Mr Ahern was in a difficult financial situation. Mr Ahern claims that a whip-round was arranged by Mr Brennan to help him. Mr Brennan approached Des Richardson with this idea, who agreed to it. They then proceeded, allegedly without the knowledge of Mr Ahern, to approach people for cash donations - people they considered to be friends of Mr Ahern.
Cash was preferred, as both believed Mr Ahern would only accept cash. The two had suggested a fundraiser to Mr Ahern - £1,000 from 25 people (identical to the St Luke's deal), but Mr Ahern had rejected this.
Money was then collected in mid December 1993.
The donors as alleged by Bertie Ahern were Paddy Reilly (£2,500), Des Richardson (£2,500), Padraic O’Connor (£5,000) Jim Nugent (£2,500), David McKenna (£2,500), Fintan Gunne, who is deceased (£2,500), Mick Collins (£2,500) and Charlie Chawke (£2,500).
£5,000, January 31, 1994 (PTSB)
On January 31, 1994, Mr Ahern opened a bank account the Irish Permanent Building Society in Drumcondra (Day 825 Q110).
Mr Ahern claims that he opened this account with a view to saving money, as he would be applying for a mortgage in the future. Funds from the account were ultimately used in 1997 towards the purchase of 44 Beresford Avenue.
A cheque for £2,500 was lodged into the account on the day of its opening, and £2,500 cash was withdrawn on that day. Later that day £2,500 was lodged into the account. Mr Ahern claims this was a donation to him, but he has been unable to identify the source (Day 825 Q127).
Mr Ahern controversially quantified this donation as a "political donation on for my personal use" (Day 825 Q140). Mr Ahern did not declare this donation/gift to the Revenue Commissioners until 2006. This led to charges that he was not tax compliant. Mr Ahern admitted that he did not declare this money to the Revenue at the time (Day 825 Q153).
"Q. 153 You did not make a return in relation to that?
A. No, no."
£4,119.59, March 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
This was a £4,000 sterling lodgment made to Mr Ahern's Irish Permanent Building Society account. It has not been explained by Ahern. It was most likely made by St Luke's secretary Grainne Caruth. It came to light during evidence of bank manager Blair Hughes (Day 839 Q9)
£1,028.40, March 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
On the same day as above, £1,000 Sterling was changed and lodged in the account of Cecilia Ahern. The docket was signed by Grainne Caruth.
£1,028.40, March 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
On the same day, £1,000 Sterling was changed and lodged in the account of Georgina Ahern. The docket was signed by Grainne Caruth.
£7,000, March 23, 1994 (PTSB)
This was a cheque lodgment, source unknown. Ahern says it was his mother.
£30,000, April 25, 1994 (AIB)
Mr Ahern claims that this £30,000 cash lodgment originated from his accumulated savings of £54,000, which he kept in safes at both St Luke's in Drumcondra and Government Buildings.
£27,164.44 was lodged into the SSA account that was opened in December 1993, and the remainder, £2,835.26, was lodged into his AIB current account. This was because SSA accounts had an upward limit of £50,000.
This £30,000 was handed over in cash at St Luke's to AIB assistant manager Philip Murphy.
£3,518.99, May 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
This was part of the proceeds of a lodgment of £5,450 Sterling changed in the branch that day.
£1,000, May 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
This was part of the £5,540 Sterling changed in the branch that day. It was lodged to the account of Cecilia Ahern and the docket was signed by Grainne Caruth.
£1,000, May 9, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
This was part of the £5,540 Sterling changed in the branch that day. It was lodged to the account of Georgina Ahern and the docket was signed by Grainne Caruth.
£50.63, May 10, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
Changed from £50 Sterling and lodged into Mr Ahern's account.
£1,434.15, May 23, 1994 (PTSB)
This was a cheque and cash lodgment to the account of Mr Ahern. Grainne Caruth signed the docket.
£20,000, August 8, 1994 (AIB)
Mr Ahern claims that this lodgment came from the £54,000 he says he accumulated in cash savings prior to 1993.
The cash was again given to AIB assistant manager Philip Murphy at St Luke's. The money was lodged into an account in the name of Mr Ahern's daughters.
£24,838.49, October 11, 1994 (Sterling/disputed) (AIB)
This is also known as the £25,000 Sterling lodgment for reasons outlined below.
Mr Ahern has claimed that this lodgment was composed of two seperate amounts.
A goodwill loan in the sum of £16,500 (made from a separate group of friends to that of the first £22,500), made to assist Mr Ahern in acquiring a house, combined with a sum of approximately £8,000 Sterling which represented an unsolicited presentation made to Mr Ahern following a dinner in Manchester about that time.
Mr Ahern alleges that the £16,500 goodwill loan came from Joe Burke (£3,500), Dermot Carew (£4,500), Barry English (£5,000) and Paddy 'The Plasterer' Reilly (£3,500).
However, the lodgement of £24,838.49 made to the account of Mr Ahern equates precisely to the amount in Irish punts which a customer who had exchanged exactly £25,000 Sterling would have received if the teller had applied the rate of exchange appropriate to a Sterling note transaction to a value up to £2,500 punts and had charged the five pounds maximum commission chargeable on the transaction.
£3,970.19, October 28, 1994 (Sterling) (PTSB)
This was a Sterling lodgment of £4,000 to the PTSB account. The docket was signed by Grainne Caruth. Blair Hughes dealt with the transaction personally.
£28,772.90, December 5, 1994 (Dollars/disputed) (AIB)
This also known as the $45,000 lodgment, for reasons outlined below.
The lodgement of £28,772.90 made to the account of Celia Larkin on the 5th of December 1994 is said by Mr Ahern to represent the lodgement by Ms Larkin of the proceeds of the £30,000 pounds Sterling in cash which had been given to him by Michael Wall at his office at St Luke's days earlier. Mr Ahern says he then gave this money to Ms Larkin to be lodged to the account opened by her in Allied Irish Bank, O'Connell Street.
In swearing his original affidavit of discovery on February 5, 2005, Mr Ahern did not declare any of the three accounts Celia Larkin opened for his benefit. Sep 20 2007 Q90 Instead of including in his affidavit, he put in a covering letter attached to it.
However, the Tribunal has found this to be implausible.
The sum of £28,772.90 does not represent the Irish punt amount which a customer who had exchanged £30,000 sterling would have received on the 5th of December 1994 using the AIB branch rates of exchange for Sterling applicable on that date.
In addition, it was found that the AIB branch records for the 5th of December 1994 show that the total value in Irish punts of the Sterling notes exchanged for Irish currency on that day amounted to £1,921.55 punts.
The Tribunal also found that if a customer presented exactly $45,000 US Dollars for exchange into Irish currency on the 5th of December 1994, they would have received exactly £28,772.90 in exchange, applying the AIB rate appropriate to a US dollar transaction to a value of up to 2,500 Irish punts with a deduction of the discretionary £5 commission.
The bank records also show that the bank exchange foreign bank notes other than Sterling notes to an Irish punt value of £28,969.34. This total sum may have been a combination of a number of transactions involving different foreign currencies but excluding Sterling.
£50,000, December 5, 1994 (AIB)
On the same day as the $45,000 lodgment, £50,000 was lodged into the same branch at AIB. This money is said to have come from transfers from Mr Ahern's accounts, of £28,000 and £22,000. The $45,000 lodgment was made into an a second seperate account she opened that day. The £28,000 was withdrawn from Mr Ahern's SSA, which had contained £50,000. £22,000 was withdrawn from his deposit account.
These funds were intended by Mr. Ahern to be utilised by Ms Larkin on the refurbishment of a property 44, Beresford Avenue, Drumcondra which was in the process of being purchased by Michael Wall. In the event none of the £50,000 given by Mr Ahern on the 5th of December 1994 was expended by Ms Larkin at that time.
On the 19th of January 1995 the £50,000 which had been given to her on the 5th of December 1994 was transferred from Ms. Larkin's deposit account to her cash save account.
On the 27th of January 1995 the entire amount was withdrawn from that account in cash. Ms Larkin believes that this sum was returned in full and in cash to Mr Ahern at that time. Her explanation for the return of the money was that Mr Ahern preferred to deal in cash.
The £50,000 returned to Mr Ahern in January 1995 is said to have been the source from which the £19,142.92 (outlined below), that is the unspent funds lodgement, was made by Mr Ahern on the 1st of December 1995.
£10,060.71, April 12, 1995 (PTSB)
This was a cheque lodgment made by Cyprian Brady into Mr Ahern's PTSB account.
£11,743.74, June 22, 1995 (Sterling) (AIB)
This lodgment included a lodgment equating to £10,000 Sterling, as outlined below.
This lodgment was made in a third deposit account that Celia Larkin opened on the same day. The sum of £11,743.74 is said to have been given to her in cash by Mr. Ahern in June 1995. This is said by Mr Ahern to represent part of the £50,000 cash returned to him on the 27th of January 1995 by Ms Larkin and retained by him in his safe at St Luke's.
There is no documentary evidence establishing the source of the £11,743.74 lodged to the third deposit account opened by Ms Larkin.
However, the Beresford fit out lodgement of £11,743.74 made to the account of Ms Larkin on the 15th of June 1995 comprised two components; £9,743.74 and £2,000.
The £9,743.74 figure equates precisely to the sum in Irish punts which a customer would have received in exchange for £10,000 Sterling in cash if the teller had applied the appropriate rate of exchange for Sterling notes on that date and had not charged the £5 commission.
£19,142.92, December 1, 1995 (Sterling) (AIB)
This is also known as the £20,000 Sterling lodgment, for reasons outlined below.
Mr Ahern has claimed that the sum of £19,142.92 lodged on the 1st of December 1995, represented a relodgement of unspent funds which had already been accounted for in the lodgements already referred to above.
The relodgement is said to have arisen in circumstances where Mr Ahern had given £50,000 to Celia Larkin to be spent on the refurbishment of 44, Beresford Avenue. It was not spent by her on refurbishment and the unspent balance was relodged to Mr Ahern's account.
However, the amount of the unspent funds lodgement of £19,142.92 to the account of Mr Ahern on the 1st of December 1995 equates precisely to the amount in Irish punts which a customer would have received in exchange for £20,000 Sterling if the teller had applied the rate of exchange appropriate to a transaction having a value of up to £10,000 punts and had charged the five pounds commission on the exchange.
£5,000, December 21, 1995 (PTSB)
Family inheritance. Brother £5,000
It appears from evidence that Grainne Caruth lodged a cheque for £5,000. This would appear to correlate.
The B/T account
The B/T account was discoverd in 2007 on foot of a cheque paid to the account by Davy Stockbrokers in January 1993. Bertie Ahern has consistently denied that the B/T refers to "Bertie/Tim", as has Tim Collins. Over €100,000 was transacted through the account. Day 870 Q124
They maintain that the account was a "Building Trust" account, set up as a sinking fund for St Luke's - a building with a history of structural problems.
However, four members of staff at PTSB, the bank which held the account, have said they variously recall or recollect that the account was in fact for the benefit of Mr Ahern and Mr Collins.
Lodgments
£7,285.71, June 6, 1989 (PTSB)
£5,000 of this came from a cheque made out to Bertie Ahern. Also a £1,000 lodgment.
£5,000, March 30, 1990 cheque (PTSB)
Lodgment of cheque, signed by Mr X.
£5,000, April 27, 1991 (PTSB)
£5,000 February 24, 1992 cheque (PTSB)
£20,000, August 25, 1992 cheque (PTSB)
£1,000 was withdrawn the same day. Said to be the proceeds of a Golf Classic.
£5,000, January 26, 1993 cheque (PTSB)
Cheque made out to Bertie Ahern from Davy.
£5,000, January 26, 1993 cheque (PTSB)
Cheque lodged the same day as above.
£20,000 October 26, 1994
Happened seconds after a sterling conversion of £20,000.
£10,000, July 18, 1995
Cash lodgment, said to be the proceeds of another Golf Classic.
February 1, 1991, Frank Dunlop wrote in his diary:
9 o'clock, John, Ken/Kevin, Paul
£75,000 clause or close
£50,000 development/build
£5,000 if nothing happens (DAY 782 Q 56)
October 9, 1991, Frank Dunlop Diary RE CityWest
8.30 Davys DS (David Shubotham)
BH Brendan Hickey
LL Liam Lawlor
Renew lands
Agreed schedule of payments with DS
£5,000 down
£20k following, £10k before Christmas
Foreign Exchange transactions
The Tribunal has found a number of discrepencies in the story given by Mr Ahern in relation to his lodgments. At the core of these discrepencies is the non-rounded lodgments to his accounts, or accounts operated for his benefit by Celia Larkin.
There are four main foreign exchange lodgments:
- The £24,838.49 lodgment on October 11, 1994 equates to £25,000 Sterling.
- The £28,772.90 lodgment on December 5, 1994 equates to $45,000 US dollars.
- The £9,743.74 lodgment on June 22, 1995 equates to £10,000 Sterling
- The £19,142.92 lodgment on December 1, 1995 equates to £20,000 Sterling.
Added up, the foreign exchange lodgments amount to £82,498.05, or £55,000 Sterling plus $45,000 US Dollars. Applying exchange rates from 1989 on the £55,000 Sterling, and 1992 on the US dollars it is feasible we would get £50,000 and £30,000 Irish punts. These are the same figures as the original allegation.
In March 2008, more foreign exchange transaction emerged, totalling £15,500. These were made by St Luke's secretary Grainne Carruth.
Legal challenge
On February 11, 2008 Mr Ahern launched a legal challenge against the tribunal. Irish Times
Statements to the Dail
The Taoiseach made a statement to the Dail on September 27, 2006. He also answered questions from members of the opposition. Some of the statements he made have been questioned by the Tribunal.
Tax liabilities
On December 30, 2007, the Irish Mail on Sunday reported that it had possession of communications between the Revenue Commissioners and Bertie Ahern. The report alleges Mr Ahern lied to the Dail and lied during the Dobson interview.
In a Dail speech in 2006, Mr Ahern said he had consulted with 'tax authorities'. This was taken to mean the Revenue Commissioners, but Mr Ahern now claims he was referring to hiw own tax adisors.
On October 6, 2006, Caoimhin Mac Gearraidh wrote Mr Ahern asking about recent claims made in the Dail and on television. In the letter, he wrote:
"You spoke at a function in Manchester in 1994-95 and you stated that you received £8,000 sterling. During the course of the Dail debate on this issue on September 27 last, you stated that 'I dealt with this properly in terms of taxes'."
"Later, during the course of the same debate you stated 'in Manchester, as I said, I dealt with a range of issues - namely my taxes'. I can find no record of this issue having been addressed previously and would ask you to let me know how and when the taxation aspect of this payment was dealt with."
"During the course of the Dail debate on September 27 last, you stated that you 'checked the matter... with the tax authorities long ago'. I can find no record of the taxation issues or otherwise being raised with the Revenue."
"If there was no written documentation [in respect of any agreement], please outline the terms of any verbal agreements in relation to the schedule of payments, time limits and the rate of interest payable."
On Saturday, January 5, the Irish Times published further details of Mr Ahern's dealings with the Revenue Commissioners. Irish Times
The report says Mr Ahern has accepted he owes tax arising from his having had free accommodation in his constituency centre, St Luke's, in the early 1990s when he was minister for finance.
On January 6, 2008, Bertie Ahern released a statement. This dealt to some degree with his tax affairs.
See: January 6 statement
He has also accepted that he owes tax arising from two other matters, but maintained that he does not owe tax arising from what he says were loans received in 1993 and 1994, and a gift he received in Manchester in 1994.
Criticism of the Tribunal
Mr Ahern began a series of interviews with newspapers on December 23, 2007, just a few days after his appearance at the Tribunal.
Irish Times interview Irish Times
Irish Examiner interview
Sunday Independent interview Sunday Independent
This Week interview RTE
