24 — village July - August 2012
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RAY BURKE
Minister for Foreign Affairs June-October October
1997; Minister for Justice 1989-1992; Minister
for Industry and Commerce 1988-1989;
Minister for Energy 1987-1988; 1987-1991;
Minister for the Environment March-December
1982.
Experience in Tribunal
Shortly after his appointment as Minister for
Foreign Affairs, allegations resurfaced that Burke
had received IR£80,000 from JMSE AND Bovale
developments. Burke denied the allegations but
resigned from the Cabinet and from the Dáil in
1997, after just four months in office. This alle-
gation led to the establishment of the Planning
Tribunal chaired by Justice Feargus Flood. In an
interim report of the subsequent Flood Tribunal,
Flood judged Burke to be “corrupt”.
The Flood Tribunal found that “the assignment
of Briargate by Oakpark Developments Limited to
Mr Burke conferred a substantial benefit upon him
which in the opinion of the Tribunal was given
in order to ensure that he would act in the best
interests of Oakpark Developments Limited’s
director, Mr. Tom Brennan and his associates
when performing his public duties as a mem-
ber of Dublin County Council and a member of
Dáil Eireann. In the opinion of the Tribunal the
transfer of Briargate to Burke amounted to a cor-
rupt payment to him from Tom Brennan and his
associates.
More problematically, the Tribunal was una-
ble to discover what actions Burke performed
for Tom Brennan or his associates in return for
the benefit provided to him.
Experience in Court
In July 2004, Burke pleaded guilty to making false
tax returns. The charges arose from his failure to
declare for tax purposes the payments that he had
received from the backers of Century Radio. On
24 January 2005 he was sentenced to 6 months
in jail for these offences, though he he got some
remission.
Possible Criminal Action
Presumably the difficulty was that the Tribunal
as stated “was unable to discover what actions
Mr. B urke p erformed for Mr. Tom Brennan or his
associates in return for the benefit [corruptly]
provided to him”.
FRANK DUNLOP
He was appointed Press Secretary of the Fianna
Fáil party in 1974, based at Leinster House. He
was head of the Irish Government’s Information
Service and Government Press Secretary from
1977 to 1982. He became a lobbyist, specialis-
ing in planning matters, and for a while fronted an
RTE political programme with Fergus Finlay
Experience in Tribunal
Dunlop was initially brought to the attention of
the Tribunal by Tom Gilmartin, who alleged that
Dunlop was being used as a bag-man for develop-
ers wishing to pay bribes to politicians in return
for favours. When he first took the witness stand in
2000, after failing to provide a written statement,
Judge Flood responded to his evidence by asking
him to reflect overnight on his position. The fol-
lowing day, Dunlop began to reveal payments that
he had made to politicians.
Experience in Court
When charged Dunlop replied “we always knew
this day was coming and I will not be contesting
the charges”. Dunlop was sentenced to two years
in prison for corruption, with the final six months
suspended. He had pleaded guilty to five charges
of corruption.
He admitted handing over money to poli-
ticians at the time of crucial rezoning votes at
council meetings relating to lands at Carrickmines
in Dublin.
The 62-year-old was initially charged with
16 counts of bribing Dublin City Councillors, but
he pleaded guilty to five sample charges. In May
2009, he was sentenced to two years in prison for
corruption, with the final six months suspended.
CAB/Anything else
The Criminal Assets Bureau successfully obtained
Why no
prosecutions?
Some unethical behaviour is not criminal; and some
prosecuting authorities are slow or inert. So bankers
and the villains of our tribunals are not getting
ÄóÝ
Some of Ireland’s best-known political and business figures have run foul of the tribunals
or normal ethical standards. Here’s how and what, if anything, can be done about it.
EAMONN FARRELL/PHOTOCALL
a High Court order in 2006, freezing relevant land
assets of 107 acres at Carrickmines owned by
Jackson Way Properties Ltd and preventing their
sale. Rezoning increased the value of just 17 acres
of the property from €8 million to €61 million.
It is within the discretion of the DPP to pros-
ecute Dunlop for other crimes implied in the
Mahon Report. And CAB can be expected to pur-
sue other lands deemed to have been the object of
illegal zonings such as Cherrywood or Quarryvale.
Nothing so far, mind you.
LIAM LAWLOR
First elected to the Dáil in 1977, two years later
he became a member of Dublin County Council.
In 1987 he was appointed Chairman of the
Oireachtas Joint Committee on Commercial State-
Sponsored Bodies. Bertie Ahern appointed him
chair of his “ethics” committee. In 2000 he was
expelled from Fianna Fail who took a dim view of
his presence in the tribunal, and its revelations.
He did not contest his seat at the 2002 general
election, and began seeking business opportu-
nities in Eastern Europe. In 2005, while being
driven to a meeting in Moscow as part of one of his
new ventures he was killed in a car accident.
Experience in Tribunal
Liam Lawlor admitted receiving sums of money
from the lobbyist Frank Dunlop which he stated
were political donations and not bribes.
Tribunal lawyers estimated £4.66 million had
passed through about 30 bank accounts and 10
companies associated with the TD and the source
of over £2.5 million is still unexplained.
The Mahon Tribunal’s final report concluded
that Lawlor effectively “conducted a personal
business” where he sold his influence and expe-
rience for his own personal gain.
The final report found that Lawlor had “abused
his role as an elected public representative [...] to a
very significant degree” while he was a councillor
until 1991, and while he was a TD between 1977
and 2002.
The Tribunal was satisfied that the relation-
ship between Mr Lawlor on one hand, and Messrs
O’Callaghan and Dunlop on the other hand, was
one firmly based on corruption.
Experience in Court
Lawlor was imprisoned on three occasions
over 2001 and 2002, for a total of six weeks in
Mountjoy Prison for contempt of court arising
from Orders of the High Court requiring him to
co-operate with the tribunal.
Possible Criminal Action
Would presumably have faced DPP action for cor-
rupt payments but died in 2005.
CHARLES HAUGHEY
Charles Haughey was Minister for Justice,
1961-64; Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries,
26 — village July - August 2012
ÄóÝ
1964-66; and Minister for Finance, 1966-70.
He served as Taoiseach for four periods -1979
until 1981, in 1982 and again from 1987-89
and 1989-92. The Haughey years were intrigue-
filled. He established the Irish Financial Services
Centre (IFSC) and turned Temple Bar into a tour-
ist area.
Experience in Tribunals
(McCracken and Moriarty)
Haughey received the equivalent of €45m in
gifts between 1979 and 1996. Colm Keena has
noted that “when in power the money tended to
flow in, and when he was out of power the money
tended to dry up”. Benefactors included John
Byrne, PV Doyle, Ben Dunne, Dermot Desmond,
Patrick Gallagher and Michael Smurfit. The
McCracken Tribunal established that donations
to Haughey were lodged in Dublin banks in the
name of Ansbacher (Cayman). Although it con-
sidered there was no “political impropriety” by
Haughey, it stated “it is quite unacceptable that
a Taoiseach should be supported in his personal
lifestyle by gifts particularly gifts from promi-
nent businessmen. If such gifts are permissible
they could inevitably lead in some cases to bribery
and corruption”. Furthermore Haughey sent the
chairman of the revenue commissioners to meet
Ben Dunne as a result of which capital gains tax
for his family was reduced by £22m. Haughey
“acted with a view to intervening improperly in a
pending tax case of great magnitude” in return for
payments of £282,500. There was “a valuable
and substantial benefit conferred on Mr Dunne,
directly consequent on Mr Haughey’s actions”.
In 2006 the Moriarty Tribunal confirmed the
McCracken findings and found that Haughey stole
a “sizeable proportion” from the Brian Lenihan
medical fund and took steps to conceal his actions;
and that Charles Haughey accepted cash in return
for favours throughout his political career. The tri-
bunal also said a £50,000 payment he received
from a Saudi diplomat and businessman in 1985
was corrupt.
Experience in Court
When Haughey was prosecuted in the Dublin
Circuit Court in June 2000 for obstructing the
McCracken Tribunal of Inquiry by hiding evidence
of his offshore bank accounts, the judge decided
that it would be impossible for him to receive a fair
trial in view of statements by the Tanaiste, Mary
Harney, who had called for jail penalties for cor-
rupt politicians.
The trial was adjourned indefinitely. A £2 mil-
lion retrospective income tax assessment was
settled by Haughey for half that amount.
Possible Criminal Action
Haughey could have faced criminal action for
theft of Brian Lenihan Senior’s medical fund, for
corruption in his dealings with Ben Dunne and
for corruption in taking money from the Saudi
diplomat
CAB/anything else
It is surprising CAB did not pursue the €45m
proceeds of the sale of Kinsealy. The value of pay-
ments by businessmen to Haughey is estimated at
around €45m also and much of that was deemed
corrupt. It is arguable CAB should still be pursu-
ing this case.
ALBERT REYNOLDS
Albert Reynolds was Minister for Posts and
Telegraphs 1979-81; Minister for Industry
and Energy in 1982 ; Minister for Industry and
Commerce in 1987-88; and Minister for Finance,
1988-91 in which capacity he reduced all per-
sonal tax rates for the first time in twenty years.
He became Taoiseach in 1991 in a con-
tinuation of the coalition government with the
Progressive Democrats and in 1993 was returned
to office in coalition with the Labour Party. His
greatest achievement was the Downing Street
Declaration in 1993 leading to the IRA ceasefire
in 1994.
Experience in Tribunal
In 1993, Reynolds and Bertie Ahern, who was
then Minister for Finance, wrote to developer
Owen O’Callaghan seeking a substantial donation.
At the time O’Callaghan was heavily involved in
lobbying for state support for a stadium project
at Neilstown, County Dublin. According to the
report, O’Callaghan felt compelled to donate a
sum of IR£80,000 to Fianna Fáil in order to get
funding for the stadium. The Mahon Tribunal said
it did not find the payment to be corrupt. However,
the report said pressurising a businessman to
donate money when he was seeking support for
a commercial project was “entirely inappropriate,
and was an abuse of political power and govern-
ment authority”.
Experience in Court
None
Possible Criminal Action
Reynolds’ offence was ethical not legal and he is in
poor health so action is highly unlikely.
BERTIE AHERN
Bertie Ahern was lord mayor of Dublin, 1986-7;
Minister for Labour 1987; Minister for Finance
1991-1994 and leader of Fianna Fáil 1994-.
He served as Taoiseach 1997-2008, prevail-
ing in three general elections. In 1998 he signed
the Belfast Agreement which secured a historic
peace in Northern Ireland. He presided over con-
siderable economic success and a property bubble,
leaving economy under-regulated, dependent on
property-related taxes and very fragile.
Experience in Tribunal (Mahon)
The Mahon Tribunal concluded that “much of the
explanation provided by Ahern, as to the source
of the substantial funds available to him, were
deemed by the Tribunal to be ‘untrue’”. While
the report did not accuse Ahern of corruption, it
stated that it totally rejected his evidence and that
of related witnesses about the sources of monies
in his own and related bank accounts, and that
Ahern failed to truthfully account for a total of
IR£165, 214.25 passing through accounts con-
nected with him.
Experience in Court
None
Possible Criminal Action
Aside altogether from any legally-difficult attempt
to force Ahern to explain how he accumulated
€215, 000 inexplicably in bank accounts in cir-
cumstances where he felt compelled to lie on oath
about where the cash came from, Ahern should
face action for perjury at the tribunal and for
conspiracy with some of his buddies to give false
evidence. The Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence)
(Amendment) Act, 1979 states: “If a person wil-
fully gives evidence to a tribunal which is material
to the inquiry to which the tribunal relates and
which he knows to be false or does not believe
to be true” then that person “shall be guilty of an
offence”. The maximum penalty upon conviction
is two years in prison and a fine of €300,000. The
common law offence of conspiracy is an agree-
ment between two or more persons to carry out
an unlawful purpose such as giving false evidence
to a tribunal.
THE BAILEY BROTHERS
The Bailey Brothers own Bovale Developments,
an unlimited company founded in 1983 which
accumulated a large landbank in the Dublin
area and became one of Ireland’s most success-
ful developers. Lifelong Fianna Fail supporters,
the pair appeared at many fundraising events
and were always seen in the party’s VIP tent at
the Galway races. In the 2002 general election,
Mick Bailey took time off from his business to can-
vass for a Fianna Fail candidate in his native Co
Roscommon.
Experience in Tribunal
Mick Bailey was found to have bribed Ray Burke
and George Redmond; and both Baileys were
found to have lied to and obstructed, the tribu-
nal. Their runs-in with the Flood Tribunal and
James Gogarty provided some of its most dramatic
moments and colourful quotes: Mick Bailey’s
“will we f***” response to Gogarty’s query about
the chances of getting a receipt for a political
contribution.
Experience in Court
Extraordinarily, none – and it is fifteen years since
their wrongdoings first surfaced.
Possible Criminal Actions
Corruption, bribery, perjury, conspiracy to give
false evidence to a tribunal.
According to Fintan O’ Toole, writing in the
27
Irish Times: “there are three separate counts on
which, in say the US or the UK, Michael and Tom
Bailey would almost certainly have faced crimi-
nal sanctions. The first is massive tax evasion. In
2006, the Bailey company, Bovale Developments,
reached a settlement of €22 million with the
Revenue – believed to be the largest made.
Secondly, Mick Bailey engaged in bribery;
making, according to the Flood tribunal reports,
at least four corrupt payments, one to Ray Burke
and three to the assistant Dublin city and county
manager George Redmond. Thirdly, the Baileys
lied under oath and otherwise attempted to mis-
lead and block a tribunal of inquiry established
by the Oireachtas. Both of the Bailey brothers
were found to have “hindered and obstructed”
the Flood tribunal in a number of ways, includ-
ing making untrue statements under oath. Not
only did Mick and Tom Bailey each give false evi-
dence under oath, but the tribunal found that they
had colluded together to tell the same lies.
It would be utterly astonishing for them not
to be prosecuted for any of this”, noted O’Toole
in 2010. But they have not been.
SEÁN FITZPATRICK
In the early 1970s Seán FitzPatrick joined
what was to become a component of
PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of his colleagues
there was Charlie McCreevy. “In all the years
I have known him, he never lost the run of him-
self. He wasn’t into great big houses, no jets. We
used to laugh at him because he always sat at the
back of the plane,” McCreevy claimed later. In
1976, FitzPatrick got a job as an accountant at
Irish Bank of Commerce, an investment bank with
only four employees. It would become Anglo Irish
Bank – “Anglo”. Anglo grew spectacularly, cen-
tring on builders and developers.
The Problem
In 2010 it was revealed that Sean FitzPatrick and
others had ‘prima facie’ cases to answer in relation
to their roles in controversial dealings at Anglo
and transactions whereby FitzPatrick temporar-
ily transferring his loans from Anglo to Irish Life
and Permanent to avoid financial statements that
would concern shareholders, according to reports
prepared by John Purcell a special investigator
for the Complaints Committee of the Chartered
Accountants Regulatory Board.
Possible Criminal Action
In 2010 Gardaí were given a warrant to search
Seán FitzPatrick’s house. FitzPatrick was arrested
by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. He
was questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1984. Under this he was able to be
held for up to six hours without charge, but this
was later extended, The Gardaí were also assisting
another investigation by the Office of the Director
of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) for breaches of
company law. After more than 24 hours of ques-
tioning, he was released without charge on 19
March 2010. A file was prepared for the DPP. In
December 2011 Fitzpatrick was arrested again
by Gardaí. A suspect can only be arrested for a
second time in any criminal investigation if new
information arises that investigators need to put
to the suspect.
Gardaí and the corporate enforcement agency
are investigating three issues at Anglo:
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David Drumm arranged to stave off the crisis
caused by Sean Quinn’s accumulating a secret
shareholding of 28% in Anglo through con-
tracts for difference. They got ten of the bank’s
richest customers, ‘the Maple Ten’, to buy Quinn’s
shares with money lent by the bank primarily on a
“non-recourse” basis, which meant that the main
security the bank had for the huge loans they were
giving these rich customers was the shares them-
selves. This could possibly be deemed to be share
price-fixing on a grand scale in contravention of
Section 108 of the 1990 Companies Act which
says: “It shall not be lawful for a [a senior officer of
a company where he has inside information that
would be price sensitive to deal] in any securities,
to cause or procure any other person to deal in
those securities”. Some insight into this was given
in Niall O’Dowd’s interview with David Drumm in
the Sunday Business Post in which he said: “The
Financial Regulator and the Central Bank were
in every meeting with me and other directors of
the bank throughout 2008…They called me day
after day after day to find out how it was going and
when we called them up and said we are thinking
of doing something”. Obviously clearance by reg-
ulatory authorities would substantially mitigate
any possible criminal offence.
This secret arrangement disguised informa-
tion that would have collapsed the share price had
it been made public.
Vincent Browne has written, “How could it
be that those who subsequently bought shares in
Anglo through the stock exchange, not knowing
that the shares were worth a fraction of the price
they were paying, were not defrauded? How is it
that, at least prima facie, a criminal offence was
not committed by some of those who arranged this
and on the part of those who knowingly aided and
abetted them or gave them a nod of approval?”.
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which were transferred off the books of Anglo
using short-term loans from Irish Nationwide
Building Society over an eight-year period;
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deposits by Irish Life and Permanent into Anglo
over its financial year-end in September 2008;
The Director of the ODCE said in late 2011 his
office’s investigation into practices at Anglo is very
close to completion after interviewing over 200
people, though there seem to be problems with
co-operativeness of key Anglo personnel.
DAVI D DRUMM
Drumm qualified as a chartered accountant with
Deloitte & Touche and joined Anglo as assistant
manager in 1993. In 1995 he was promoted to
manager at Anglo. In 1997 David Drumm and his
family moved to the US to lead the North American
business expansion of Anglo. He became CEO of
Anglo in 2005 as FitzPatrick moved up to become
an active Chaiman.
The problem
According to Drumm, in an effort to prop up
Anglo’s swooning stock price following the diffi-
culties with Quinn, Ulra Alpha-male FitzPatrick
ordered his senior staff, including Drumm, to
stage a public vote of confidence and buy up large
quantities of the bank’s stock. The bank loaned
its executives the cash to facilitate the stock pur-
chases. This sort of insider dealing was common
at Anglo.
Drumm took on more than €7m million in
debt to buy his share of Anglo stock, and within
months, the stock was worthless. Anglo’s January
2009 nationalisation wiped out shareholders,
meaning Drumm had borrowed millions to buy a
stack of paper. He fled to Cape Cod in mid-2009,
ahead of a series of investigations into Anglo’s col-
lapse, and its secret insider deals. Anglo followed
Drumm to Cape Cod. In a bid to head off lawsuits
and a lynching in Dublin, Drumm filed for bank-
ruptcy in Boston.
The bid initially looked like it might pay off but
in the end Drumm’s bankruptcy trustee joined the
bank in asking a judge to enforce the $12 million
THE LAW ON CORRUPTION
The main relevant law in place when the
activities considered by the tribunals took
place was the Prevention of Corruption Acts
1889 to 1916 included the Public Bodies
Corrupt Practices Act, 1889 which applied
only to local authorities and created an
offence of corruptly giving or receiving any
consideration as an inducement or reward
for exercising official authority in a particu-
lar manner. Simply stated, this Act made it
an offence for members or servants of such
bodies to accept or seek bribes.
The Prevention of Corruption (Amend-
ment) Act, 2001 made it easier to prove
corruption because the person who gave
the gift [or consideration or advantage] or
on whose behalf the gift [or consideration
or advantage] was given had an interest
in [the way official powers were exercised]
the gift or consideration or advantage was
deemed corrupt.
Established in 1996, the role of the
Criminal Assets Bureau is to carry out in-
vestigations into and potentially freeze the
suspected proceeds of criminal conduct.
Findings of Tribunals canít be used in
evidence in criminal proceedings.
28 — village July - August 2012
Anglo stock loan. In January Drumm lost a bid to
have a challenge against his bankruptcy proceed-
ings thrown out when it was contested by Anglo/
IRBC and it will now be heard in January 2013.
Meanwhile his wife is to pay almost €1 million
to the Bankruptcy Trustee and will be entitled to
keep a share of the assets she owns jointly with her
husband including of the sales proceeds of houses
in Massachussets and Malahide, Dublin.
Possible Criminal Action
Anglo/IBRC claims Drumm committed numer-
ous frauds on the bank during his time as chief
executive from 2005 to 2008, and that he lied
repeatedly during his bankruptcy proceedings
in Boston.
Anglo may pursue Drumm in Massachussets
for fraud in dealing with his assets in the US.
He could also be pursued and extradited for
insider trading in Ireland under Section 108 of the
1990 Companies Act – as with Seán FitzPatrick.
And as with FitzPatrick the price-support
mechanism for Anglo shares seems like a fraud
on shareholders when Drumm had particular fidu-
ciary duties to them.
SEÁN QUINN
Cavan/Fermanagh-based Seán Quinn made bil-
lions out of quarrying, cement, plastic, glass,
insurance, currency, property and shares. Once
famous for being Ireland’s richest business-
man, Quinn now has achieved the reputation
of Ireland’s biggest debtor who may yet face jail
time.
The Problem
In October 2005 - when the Celtic Tiger was still
booming - Seán Quinn took risky positions at
Anglo, AIB, and Bank of Ireland using contracts
for difference (CFDs - whereby an investor can
enter into a contract to buy shares at a predeter-
mined price at some future time). Quinn went on
to own over 28 percent of Anglo in “what was the
worst-ever stock market gamble by an Irishman”.
When Ireland’s property bubble burst, Anglo
was nationalised, causing the Quinn family to
lose about €3.2 billion. While the Quinn family
says that the bank “illegally used them to prop up
its share price”, the taxpayers are still stuck with
the bill. Quinn has been excluded from serving
as a company director under Irish law following
his bankruptcy earlier this year. Anglo is having
grave difficulty tracing the assets it is entitled to
following the bankruptcy.
Court Action
High Court judge Elizabeth Dunne indicated in
late June that she would consider punitive meas-
ures if Seán Quinn, his son Sean Jnr and nephew
Peter Darragh Quinn failed to comply with orders
aimed at reversing a “conspiracy” to move assets
in the Quinn international property group (IPG)
beyond the reach of the former Anglo.
She did not disagree with the bank’s descrip-
tion of the contempt as “flagrant” and was
disappointed there was no acknowledgement by
the three, “even at this stage”, of the “great wrong-
doing” involved.
She was satisfied all three were involved in a
conspiracy to deprive Anglo of access to assets in
circumstances where they admitted the bank was
owed €455 million while disputing its claim for
a further €2.3 billion.
She had already ruled that Mr Quinn had run a
“blatant, dishonest and deceitful” scheme involv-
ing his €500m international property portfolio.
She has given the three until July 20th to com-
ply with a large number of coercive orders.
It has been reported that the ODCE has already
gathered mountains of information on the Quinns’
activities through the three-year probe into the
collapse of Anglo.
The High Court judgment may also be exam-
ined by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
Quinn could also be prosecuted for common
law fraud for for example charging a Quinn Group
subsidiary the bill, running into hundreds of thou-
sands of euro, for his daughter Aoife’s wedding
in the Slieve Russell Hotel. What was unusual
was that the Quinns got the family business, the
Quinn Group, to stump up the cost of it, The Quinn
Group is now of course owned by the taxpayer.
Furthermore, an attempt was later made by the
subsidiary to claim the VAT back from Revenue
on the basis the wedding was a marketing event
for the Slieve Russell Hotel.
Recent secret video footage of members of the
Quinn family discussing a deal to shift assets out
of the reach of the courts even after High Court
orders prohibited it. Peter Quinn seems to say in
the video that he is prepared to mislead the Irish
court looking into the Quinns’ dealings. If the
video is not a fake it could ground fraud and con-
tempt proceedings on a grand scale.
MICHAEL FINGLETON
In 1971 Michael Fingleton became the secretary
of the small Irish Independent Building Society
which changed its name to Irish Nationwide in
1975 and began to expand. The key to its expan-
sion was marketing, using the media to build the
profile of the business. Many journalists received
mortgages from Irish Nationwide. He also pro-
vided favourable loans to Charlie McCreevy and
Celia Ahern.
Fingleton had a reputation as an autocrat
and effectively ran a one-man lending department
with loans of over €500,000 being personally
approved by him. IBRC has filed a legal action
against Fingleton and five former senior figures
from the building society, presumably in relation
to alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary
and breach of duty of care.
Possible Criminal Action
Michael Fingleton was interviewed by ODCE offi-
cials for more than an hour in July 2011.
Fingleton agreed to answer questions about the
“warehousing” of loans made to former Anglo
directors, including its former chairman, Seán
FitzPatrick.
Furthermore a probe has been ordered into
offshore bank accounts held by Fingleton.
Montenegro’s top state prosecutor - the
equivalent of Ireland’s DPP - has sanctioned the
investigation after receiving a report from the
country’s anti-money-laundering unit and that it
would involve the assistance of foreign banks and
police forces. Cash transfers at the centre of the
investigation include a sum of €500,000 moved
by Mr Fingleton to an account in Montenegro
2010 and thence in 2011 to the London Barclays
Bank account of his son, Michael Fingleton Jnr.
Also under scrutiny is €128,498 trans-
ferred by Mr Fingleton from a separate, company
account in Montenegro to his son’s London bank
account.
Both transfers occurred shortly after Mr
Fingleton had been hit with a €13.6m debt judg-
ment by Ulster Bank over a failed land deal in Co
Cavan.
These actions could also ground an action in
fraud under Irish law.
MICHAEL LOWRY
Michael was first elected to Tipperary North Riding
County Council in 1979. He was elected as a Fine
Gael TD for Tipperary North in the 1987 General
Election. In 1993 he became Chairman of the Fine
Gael Parliamentary Party. He was Minister for
Transport, Energy and Communications 1994-6
when he resigned in disgrace. He continued his
political career as an Independent and topped the
poll in the following four General Elections.
Experience in Tribunals
(McCracken and Moriarty)
At the 1997 McCracken Tribunal it was revealed
that Ben Dunne had paid IR£395,000 for an
extension to Lowry’s home in Tipperary. The
Tribunal concluded that Lowry had evaded tax.
In early 2007, Lowry announced that he had
made a full and final settlement of all outstand-
ing payments with the Revenue Commissioners in
response to the findings concerning his tax eva-
sion. His company Garuda had to pay up €1.2
million after a Revenue audit. He also paid almost
€200,000 to settle his personal taxes.
In 2011 the Moriarty Tribunal found that,
ÄóÝ
Ray Burke, Frank Dunlop, Liam Lawlor
served prison sentences arising, directly or
indirectly from the Planning and Payments
Tribunals. The twelve others who feature on
the cover of the magazine have not faced
prosecution
29
during his time as Communications Minister,
Michael Lowry assisted businessman Denis
O’Brien’s consortium Esat Digiphone in acquiring
a lucrative mobile phone licence in the mid-90s
which ultimately made O’Brien one of the rich-
est men in Ireland. At an infamous meeting in
Hartigan’s in Dublin, Lowry tipped O’Brien off
regarding the supposedly secret concerns the
Project Group had about Communicorp’s finances
– so letting Esat know it was advisable to tap deep-
pockets investors such as Dermot Desmond who
it added to the consortium. Lowry also acceler-
ated the process by a month so he could present
a fait accompli to government and (indeed
announced the result before a government deci-
sion – it was announced after a Cabinet meeting
and presumably decision) and without drawing
attention to the potential legal difficulties of hav-
ing introduced Dermot Desmond in the middle
of the process. The Tribunal concluded that one
of Lowry’s interventions, which cut the selection
process to the advantage of Esat, was “disgrace-
ful” and “insidious”.
The tribunal also found that Lowry sought to
procure unwarranted rent increases that over
a seven-year period would have benefited busi-
nessman Ben Dunne. Lowry sought to influence
the outcome of an arbitration being conducted in
1995 in relation to the rent payable by the then
state-owned Telecom Éireann for Marlborough
House to a company owned and controlled by
Dunne. The report said that the matter was “pro-
foundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short
of breathtaking”.
The report also noted that O’Brien had “made
or facilitated payments to Lowry of £147,000
sterling, £300,000 sterling and a benefit equiva-
lent to a payment in the form of O’Brien’s support
for a loan of £420,000 sterling”.
The Criminal Assets Bureau and the Bureau
of Fraud were called in in March 2011 to begin
investigating his finances since his €1.4m set-
tlement with the revenue commissioners did not
grant him immunity from prosecution.
Of course, no prosecutions have followed
though the Irish Independent reported on October
4th, 2011 that the Garda Commissioner was
expected to consult with the DPP before decid-
ing if there would be a criminal investigation.
Potential Criminal Actions
Presumably the fact it is not clear that there was
a quid pro quo in the payment of money and ben-
efits to Lowry risks prejudicing any criminal
action for corruption for those acts. Seeking to
alter Ben Dunne’s rent would ground an action
for corruption.
CAB/Anything else
Presumably CAB will look at the role of Ben Dunne
in funding valuable works to Lowry’s house to
ascertain, since Dunne received benefits from
Lowry that were “profoundly corrupt to a degree
that was nothing short of breathtaking”, whether
the house constitutes the proceeds of crime.
BEN DUNNE
Ben Dunne is a former director of his family
firm, Dunnes Stores, one of the largest chains of
department stores in Ireland. In 1981, he was
kidnapped by the IRA and held for seven days but
released unharmed. In 1992, he was arrested for
cocaine possession and soliciting while on a golf
holiday in Florida, USA. He now owns a chain of
low price fitness centres. He was again embroiled
in scandal in the mid-1990s when it emerged he
had given large amounts of money to a number
of Irish politicians, mainly from the Fianna Fáil
party including the then Taoiseach, Charles
Haughey. He also gave money to Michael Lowry
of Fine Gael.
Experience in Tribunals
(Moriarty and McCracken)
The McCracken Tribunal found that Dunne know-
ingly assisted Lowry evade tax”. In 2011, the
Moriarty Tribunal concluded of Ben Dunne’s deal-
ings with Michael Lowry where Lowry sought to
influence a rent review of a building part-owned
by Mr Dunne that: “What was contemplated and
attempted on the part of Mr Dunne and Mr Lowry
was profoundly corrupt to a degree that was noth-
ing short of breathtaking”.
Possible Criminal Action
Dunne could be prosecuted for aiding and abetting
Lowry to evade tax. He could also be prosecuted
for corruption.
DENIS O’BRIEN
Denis founded the Esat Telecom Group plc and
built it throughout the 1990s until its sale to
British Telecom plc for €2.4 billion. He is one of
Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs with investments
in international telecoms, radio, media, property,
aircraft leasing, golf and other leisure interests.
He owns a nearly 30%, controlling interest in INM.
In the year to March 2011, revenues at his tele-
coms company Digicel were up 27% to $2.23bn.
He is a very notable philanthropist.
Experience in Tribunal (Moriarty)
The Moriarty Tribunal found that Michael Lowry,
“secured the winning” of the 1995 mobile phone
licence competition for Denis O’Brien’s Esat
Digifone. The tribunal also found that O’Brien
made two payments to Lowry, in 1996 and
1999, totalling approximately £500,000, and
supported a loan of Stg£420,000 given to Lowry
in 1999. Judge Michael Moriarty found that the
payments from O’Brien were “demonstrably refer-
able to the acts and conduct of Mr Lowry” during
the licence process, acts which benefited Esat
Digifone. In effect O’Brien was trading in influ-
ence or ‘legal corruption’.
Possible Criminal Action
It seems that the payments by O’Brien to Lowry,
though “referable” to Lowry’s acts may not have
been a quid pro quo, such as would be necessary
to ground a conviction for corruption.
David Drumm

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