The Flood Tribunal has begun hearing evidence about an offshore company set up by former Fianna Fáil Minister Ray Burke. Simon Howard, a Jersey-based solicitor, is giving the evidence. The company, Caviar Ltd, never traded but was used to receive thousands of pounds from the builders Brennan and McGowan.
Mr Howard, of Bedell Cristin Solicitors, will also give evidence about companies operated by Brennan and McGowan. The builders lodged £75,000 to the accounts of Caviar in the early 1980s.
Mr Howard told the Tribunal how Mr Burke travelled to Jersey himself in 1984 to open a bank account for his company. Mr Burke had set it up through a solicitor in Dublin. He needed to open a bank account for the company and attended to it personally.
Mr Howard's firm also acted for a large number of offshore companies owned by Brennan and McGowan. He was taken through a complex list of transactions involving those companies this morning. Tribunal lawyers are outlining the transactions to show how the companies operated.
Many of the transactions involving land deals in Ireland were specially designed to avoid tax. The companies were also used to pay Mr Burke. Tribunal lawyers have described it as a most unlikely scenario for a political donation.
