At the Moriarty Tribunal, a Central Bank official has claimed that in 1988 his superiors at the bank ignored his findings on the existence of the Ansbacher scheme within Guinness and Mahon Bank. Terry Donovan said that he was so concerned at his discovery that he refused to sign off on a Central bank report that was going to omit it. His evidence is expected to be vigorously contested by other Bank officials.
Terry Donovan was a new trainee with the Central Bank when he joined a team on an onsite investigation of Guinness and Mahon in 1988. He was not happy with what he discovered. He came across terms he did not understand, which indicated that Guinness and Mahon was securing loans with Cayman Island funds. Today he said that he thought this was significant but when he raised the matter with senior Central Bank officials and Guinness and Mahon he got nowhere.
When he realised that his information was being ignored he refused to sign the report. He even asked for a transfer. The woman who headed up this investigation as well as other Central Bank officials reject Terry Donovan's account. In a statement to the tribunal, Ann Horan said that she rejected any suggestion that she ignored Mr Donovan's concerns or that she deliberately kept this information out of the inspection report.
