Harney may extend scope of investigations

The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, is expected to decide shortly after Easter to seek to investigate further matters uncovered in reports from authorised officers into companies connected with the Ansbacher accounts.

The reports are nearing completion and the Tanaiste has indicated that she is considering petitioning the court to appoint inspectors to some of the companies involved.

Inspectors are empowered to conduct deeper investigations than authorised officers and their reports can be published. While the Tanaiste's officers are mainly seeking evidence of breaches of Company Law, it is understood that the Ansbacher deposits, totalling over £40 million, were used for wide-scale tax evasion by wealthy individuals.

The Tanaiste is due to receive reports from authorised officers on the following companies: Celtic Helicopters - the affairs of which have already been examined in detail by the Moriarty Tribunal; Guinness & Mahon and Irish Interncontinental Bank, the two Irish banks in which the Ansbacher deposits were held; Ansbacher (Cayman) and Hamilton Ross, the two institutions in whose names the accounts were held; and Kentford Securities, a company involved in managing funds which came from the deposits.

The reports of the officers can be sent to the DPP, the Central Bank and the Revenue Commissioners.

The Tanaiste is also seeking to examine the affairs of Dunnes Stores through the appointment of authorised officers to two Dunnes companies, but this work has been held up by a court challenge from Dunnes.

Ms Harney indicated clearly in the Dail earlier this week that, on receipt of the final reports from the authorised officers, she would consider seeking the appointment of an inspector under section 8 of the 1990 Companies Act. The matters which have come to light are so serious that "they require further examination", she said.

An inspector appointed under this section can undertake a full investigation, compel witnesses to give evidence, look into the affairs of related companies and publish a report. Importantly, Ms Harney also pointed out that an inspector, unlike an authorised office, can call on professional assistance - from an auditor, for example - to help if parties he has spoken to give conflicting information.

It is not clear to which institutions the Tanaiste may seek the appointment of such an inspector. However, she indicated that "leading principals in large organisations have been involved in huge breaches of the Companies Act". The appointment of an inspector of inspectors would be designed to gather further evidence of such breaches, many of which appear to relate not to the companies to which authorised officers were appointed but to other companies with which they had dealings.

The breaches of Company Law involved are believed to relate mainly to not properly keeping books of company accounts and actions which, in some cases, defrauded creditors, including the Revenue Commissioners.