The former head of accounts at NCB stockbrokers has told the Mahon Tribunal that a £5,000 payment to Bertie Ahern in 1993 was regarded as political payment, not a personal donation.
Graham O'Brien said the first time he heard any suggestion of it being a personal donation was during the Taoiseach's television interview last year.
Mr O'Brien, who is now finance director of NCB, has confirmed evidence from two other NCB executives that the £5,000 payment made in December 1993 was a political contribution.
He said he was in the office of director Chris McHugh in December 1993 when then head of the company Padraic O'Connor came in.
He also said that then Fianna Fáil fundraiser Des Richardson had requested a £5,000 donation toward the cost of running Mr Ahern's constituency office, St Lukes.
Mr O'Brien confirmed that a bogus invoice was used to cover the donation, which was paid to Euroworkforce, a company linked to Mr Richardson.
He said neither he nor Mr McHugh was particularily happy with this but agreed as Mr O'Connor had authorised the invoice.
Mr O'Brien said the cheque for £5,000 plus VAT had to be re-issued the following March because the original was mutilated.
He says Mr O'Connor told him that Mr Richardson had contacted him about this.
But Mr O'Brien said there was never any discussion of it being a personal donation and that the first time he heard this suggestion was when Bertie Ahern gave his television interview with Bryan Dobson on 26 September 2006.
