Charles Haughey, Received another loan from Merchant Bank
The Moriarty Tribunal has been hearing evidence of loans made available to former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey by the late hotelier P. V. Doyle. In total, just over £300,000 was made available to the former Taoiseach from accounts associated with the name of Mr. Doyle. During the period, from April 1983 to January 1984, three transfers were made from an Amiens Security Account to accounts in the name of Charles Haughey. They were for £10,000, £80,000 and £30,000 and were transferred to an account in Mr. Haughey's name. From documents examined, it appears that the source of these monies was a loan account in the name of P. V. Doyle at Guinness and Mahon bank.
Around the time of these transactions Mr. Doyle told a senior executive of the Doyle Hotel Group that he should not worry about the loan, as it would be repaid in full, both the interest and the loan itself. However, at the time of Mr. Doyle's death both the loan and some interest were outstanding. In March of 1988 it was judged by Doyle Group executives that the loan would never be paid off. The account was settled in full and the account closed.
The Tribunal has also heard of £50,000 received by Mr. Haughey from a Saudi Arabian diplomat. Mr. Fustock is a relation of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who came to Ireland to buy bloodstock. Mr. Fustock was a friend of Dr. John O Connell's, who introduced him to Mr. Haughey. On one occasion in 1985, Dr. O'Connell met Mr. Fustock at Goffs Bloodstock Sales, where he was asked to pass £50,000 on to Mr. Haughey. Mr. O'Connell lodged the money and then made out a cheque for cash to Mr. Haughey a few days later.
Mr. Fustock, who lives in New York, has been contacted by the Tribunal. In a statement he said that the money was for a horse he bought from Mr. Haughey, but because he buys and sells so many horses he cannot provide any further details. He has been asked to attend as a witness, but so far he has not responded to this request.
The Tribunal has also learned of another loan given to Charles Haughey by the bank controlled by the Gallagher group, Merchant Bank, which collapsed in the early '80s. The loan was advanced in 1976 in two separate amounts for £6,000 and £2,500. In an affidavit, Mr. Patrick Gallagher said that Mr. Haughey came to him and said that he needed the money to build a house for his daughter Eimear in Kilmuckridge, in County Wexford.
There was no repayment schedule of the loan and no demands for repayment. It was only paid back when the liquidator of the bank looked for repayments in 1982. Lawyers for the Tribunal said that they would investigate if this loan "had any commercial reality."
Over the coming days and weeks, the Tribunal will also investigate Mr. Haughey's accounts in Guinness and Mahon. This morning the Tribunal heard how he had two current and two loan accounts with the bank between 1979 and 1984. Over £1.4m was lodged into the current accounts in this period and almost a quarter of a million pounds into the loan accounts. Only some of the lodgements have been identified. Mr. Haughey's salary at the time was never lodged into these accounts.
The Tribunal will also look at a loan of over £400,000 advanced to Mr. Haughey from Ansbacher Caymen bank in 1982. He applied to the Central Bank for clearance for this loan and said that it was for extensions and renovations to Abbeville Stud. His file in the central bank was kept separately from others and had a letter attached, indicating that any dealings he had with the Central Bank should be conducted by named officials only. Mr. Haughey has not given the Tribunal any waiver to investigate this loan, as he has done with other bank accounts.
