Dermot Desmond - Moriarty Tribunal

Moriarty Tribunal

The Moriarty Tribunal found that Mr Desmond made substantial payments to Taoiseach Charles Haughey. In September 1994 Mr Desmond made a payment of £100,000.00 sterling to Mr Haughey and in October 1996 he made a payment of £25,000 sterling. While Mr Desmond claims these payments to be loans, repayable by Mr Haughey, the Tribunal did not accept this explanation. Ultimately Mr Haughey was forced to settle with the Revenue Commissioners, as it appears he had failed to declare the payments from Mr Desmond.

The Tribunal noted that the payments were made via the Swiss bank account of a company called Anesia Etablissement, Banque Scandinave en Suisse, Case Postale 901, 1211 Geneva 3, of which Mr Desmond was the beneficial owner, via an account at Henry Ansbacher & Company to an account at Cayman International Bank Trust Company, held for Mr Haughey's benefit. The sum £25,000 was paid via Desmonds's Bottin International Investments Limited which had an account with Anglo Irish Bank, 69 Athol Street, Douglas, Isle of Man. Desmond said Haughey asked him for the money in 1996 because of "a shortage of funds".

Desmond also loaned money to Feltrim plc, which was at the time managed by Charles Haughey's son, Conor Haughey. In August 1991, Desmond loaned the company £55,000, made up of £40,000 loaned on August 12, 1991 and £15,000 on August 28, 1991. Conor Haughey told the Tribunal that the company was in danger of being liquidated and he approached Desmond for the money. The loan was never ultimately repaid, and was instead converted into equity.