Transfers between offshore bank accounts resulted in £147,000 sterling being lodged to an Isle of Man account belonging to Mr Michael Lowry, it has emerged. They were not disclosed to a top-level internal Esat Telecom inquiry in 1997.
The Moriarty tribunal revealed yesterday it has discovered new matters concerning Mr Denis O'Brien and Mr Lowry which it is to examine in evidence.
Mr O'Brien is to tell the tribunal today that in October 1996 he "earmarked" £100,000 in Woodchester Bank which he intended to give to Mr Lowry. He will say that at the time he had "a number of millions" of pounds in the bank, while Mr Lowry was going through a difficult time. Mr O'Brien will say he never made the payment.
He will also say the Woodchester money was on his mind when, during an early morning run in the Wicklow mountains, he joked with the then chief executive of Esat Digifone, Mr Barry Maloney, that he had made a £100,000 payment to Mr Lowry. He also "joked" that he had made another, similar payment to a second, unidentified person.
Mr Maloney is to tell the tribunal he believes the comments were made during a conversation in an office where he was complaining about "success fee" payments being made, without invoices, to people involved in the Esat Digifone bid for the mobile phone licence.
In 1997, when Esat Telecom was to be launched on the Nasdaq, the US screen-based stock exchange, Mr Maloney brought Mr O'Brien's comments to the attention of his fellow directors. A prospectus was being prepared for the launch and if information which later transpired to be important was left out of the prospectus, the directors could be left open to multi-million pound suits. Esat Telecom's shareholding in Esat Digifone was its largest asset.
During intense preparations the directors and their advisers conducted a detailed examination of the Woodchester £100,000 and the comment made by Mr O'Brien. Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, in a lengthy opening statement yesterday, said an examination of Mr O'Brien's accounts in Woodchester Bank was conducted. No payment which might have been to Mr Lowry was found.
Mr Healy said Mr Owen O'Connell, a senior solicitor with William Fry solicitors, asked Mr O'Brien's adviser, Mr Aidan Phelan, if there were other significant accounts operated by Mr O'Brien. Mr Phelan replied no.
In fact, Mr Healy said, it now appeared that in July 1996 Mr Phelan had been involved "in arranging for two substantial transfers of £100,000 and £50,000 respectively on Mr O'Brien's behalf from offshore accounts in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man".
The payments were made to the Jersey account of the late Mr David Austin. Mr Austin later paid the money to an Isle of Man account belonging to Mr Lowry.
