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Banker ‘Doesn’t Understand’ Bertie’s Explanation of Account Money
Read more about: Bertiegate, Fianna Fail, Irish Politics, Tribunals
At the Mahon Tribunal relating to the IE £28,700 deposit which Bertie says was Sterling and the tribunal says was $45,000, Rosmarie Murtagh of AIB said that she doesn’t understand Bertie Ahern’s explanations. She was on the stand lastJuly and conceded that Ahern’s legal team may find a possible formula for converting the sum to Sterling instead of dollars though still has not seen the formula.
Still no smoking gun though as Bertie prepares to take the stand on Thursday, just a lot of curious banking.
When “Don Charleone”, the Squire of Kinsealy, was living off the hog and spending 50 times his politician’s after-tax wages – on Charvet shirts and champagne dinners for his mistress at
The Hardy Cock (no pun intended), the dogs in the street knew that he was a pickpocket, on the fiddle, scrounging vast amounts of cash from friends of Fianna Fail, in return for favours.
Irish Political History seems now to be repeating itself.
Bertie and/or his mistress; and/or wealthy friend of FF & Bertie, Michael Wall, are found to be moving vast sums of dollars; or sterling; or maybe even zlotys – into a house belonging to Michael Wall – surprise, surprise – that de Bert was renting for his mistress.
Or maybe he just kept it under their bed, as he may not have had a bank account and needed ready cash to pay his discarded wife maintenance – or whatever.
Whatever, indeed.
One wonders what Brian Cowen will say at Bertie’s State Funeral.
The testimony may be achieving its intended purpose of creating more confusion but the details are nonetheless amazing –
Mr Wall outlined how he brought the money over from Manchester on the day he was to attend aFianna Fáil fundraising dinner held around December each year – an event he described as “my Christmas treat”.
He put it in a briefcase in the wardrobe of his hotel room in the Aisling Hotel on Parkgate Street. Asked if his wife was aware of the money in the wardrobe, he said she was not.
The money, less about £2,000 which Mr Wall used to entertain a group of eight or 10 people at the dinner on Friday December 2nd, 1994, was handed over to Mr Ahern at St Luke’s in Drumcondra the next day. He believed about 90 per cent of the money would have been in small notes, such as £20 notes because £50 notes were not common in the UK.
He said he met Mr Ahern for about half an hour at his constituency office, St Luke’s, in Drumcondra, to hand over the money. He did not get a receipt.
….
Henry Murphy, counsel for the Mahon tribunal Henry Murphy for the tribunal asked when Mr Wall handed over the money to Mr Ahern in the presence of his then partner Celia Larkin: “Were they surprised, were they agog, were they appreciative?”
Mr Wall replied: “No.” When it was put to him that this was a lot of money, he asked “what’s a lot of money?”
Mr Murphy said “it’s a huge amount of money to have on your table on your Saturday afternoon at home”. Mr Wall said it was not a lot to him.
what’s a lot of money?
Charlie would have regarded it as “petty cash”.
But the PAYE sector of the community are struggling to survive on their after-tax income.
They don’t have access to favours.
If one of them had a talented writer in the family, would they share the same opportunity as Cecilia Ahern, who, when she plagiarised an old novel, saw it become a best seller?
If they got behind with their mortgage payments, would a group of people have a whip around to
help out?
Perhaps, yes, IF you were able to do a big favour in return!
Otherwise – Tough!
Bertie has only to write a note — “PS U OWE ME” — to get the few bob necessary.
And how does he repay the favours? Just pop into the FF tent at the Galway Races to find out.
Bertie is up to his tonsils in corruption.
“A man may smile and smile and be a villain.” (William Shakespeare 16th century).
Master Dunlop has demonstrated how “CASH DONATIONS TO THE FIANNA FAIL PARTY FUNDS” are repaid with massive favours.
Pee Flynn described his daughter as “A Class Act”. No doubt, he regards evasion of Income & other taxes as “Another Class Act”.
And for Bertie to use Farmleigh House, purchased at an extortionate price with taxpayers money, for a hairdressing promotion venue for his mistress!!!
Is this a favour?
One can ask will there be another “whip around” to pay for Bertie’s expensive defence lawyers at the Mahon Tribunal.
For, if justice is to be served in this country, Bertie must be found culpable…
… and pay the price that Haughey evaded…
… sadly, because Mary Harney had the temerity to be forthright and honest and say that Haughey should have been sentenced to jail…
One interpretation of the news yesterday was that Mr Wall gave Bertie £30,000 or whatever for renovating a house 6 months in advance of Mr Wall purchasing the house, or Bertie residing in the house.
So Mr Wall knew 6 mths in advance he would be buying a house, that Bertie would live in it and that £30,000 would be need for renovations!!!!
It also supposes that Bertie as minister for finance had the time to go househunting on behalf of Mr. Wall. Was this house for Bertie to live in or for Celia? And as the moose says how did Wall know in advance it would be 30K less stamp duty worth of renovations. And if it was Celia that did the renovations (in terms of picking stuff out and barking “by the window” at the lads moving the sofa) did she get paid for it?
When Bertie was asked about the “gifts” to pay off his discarded wife, he mentioned that it had to do with Stamp Duty – on a Rented House!!
Some Minister of Finance! He was unable to remember that Stamp Duty had been introduced on his watch – on the Purchase of a house – not on Rentals!
Dan,
As he was totally incompetent, he left all the details to the Ministry of Finance mandarins, then read the daily synopsis they prepared for him to the Dail.He hadn’t a clue, although he is apt to say that is an accountant. My understanding was that he was a bookkeeper in the Mater Hospital.
The man was a fool then; he is a fool now; he is a liar; a crap leader & he is also corrupt and should go to chokey.
But he’s cute and a survivor and FF cannot take a chance on feeding him to the lions.
One can only hope that Mary Harney keeps her counsel this time.