£60,000 lodged in account of Burke's Jersey company

The former Fianna Fail politician, Mr Ray Burke, instructed a solicitor to set up an offshore investment company in Jersey in 1984, the tribunal has been told.

In the same year, £60,000 was deposited in an account held by the company, Caviar Ltd. The beneficial owners of the company were registered as "P.D. Burke" and "A. Burke", both with an address in Alton, Hampshire, England.

Mr Burke's lawyers later clarified that "P.D. Burke" was Mr Burke himself. His full name is Raphael Patrick Dermot Burke. "A. Burke" refers to his wife, Ann.

Mr Burke today begins his evidence to the tribunal in relation to Century Radio. The tribunal is investigating the payment to Mr Burke of £35,000 by Century's cofounder, Mr Oliver Barry, in May 1989. This was four months after the Independent Radio and Television Commission awarded the national radio franchise to Century, and four months before the station went on air.

Mr Burke's evidence is expected to last up to four weeks.

A Dublin solicitor, Mr Oliver J. Conlon, said yesterday that Mr Burke instructed him to set up a shelf company with investment powers in Jersey.

It was originally intended that the company should be called Athenaeum Ltd, but there was already a company of that name, so the company was set up as Caviar Ltd.

Mr Conlon said he was given the names of the beneficial owners and asked to procure directors. The registered office of the company would be that of the solicitors used to set it up in Jersey, Bedell & Cristin.

For a while after the company was incorporated, Mr Conlon said, he received correspondence regarding Caviar Ltd. He then wrote to Bedell & Cristin asking them to forward all correspondence to Mr Burke.

Caviar Ltd was registered in April 1984, and had an authorised share capital of 10,000 shares at £1 apiece. The directors were listed as Ms H.L.G. Gibson and Mr G. King of Sark, and Mr L.A. Wheeler of St Helier in Jersey.

Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, revealed several letters concerning the company, which were sent for the attention of "Mr A. Burke" inside a sealed envelope. In 1984, Bedell & Cristin wrote to Hill Samuel bank in Jersey, enclosing a cheque for £60,000 to be lodged to the company account.

According to the correspondence, Caviar Ltd would "take investments, probably in real property in the Republic of Ireland".

Mr Conlon said this was the first time he had heard this. He ceased to have dealings with Mr Burke on this matter in 1986 at the latest.

Mr Hanratty asked the witness if he had done any other work for Mr Ray Burke. Mr Conlon replied that he had worked on two or three transactions on behalf of Mr Burke over a period of 20 years, ending in 1986. The other work was different from this.