Accountant 'not aware' of payment to Burke

Brennan and McGowan's accountant has told the tribunal that his clients never told him they were making an offshore payment to Mr Ray Burke.

Mr Hugh Owens, the mastermind of the two builders' offshore tax schemes, said if they had told him that money was going to a politician it would have "stuck out like a sore thumb".

His evidence conflicts with that of Mr Brennan and Mr McGowan, who say they informed Mr Owens that they were making a political donation. The money was paid from Canio - an offshore company owned by the two builders and the auctioneer Mr John Finnegan - to Mr Burke in 1984.

Mr Owens also said Mr Finnegan had been "totally deceived" and "hoodwinked" in relation to the political donation.

Mr Tom Brennan has told the tribunal that references in the financial documents to money being for "architect's fees" were a "euphemism" for a political donation. Mr Owens said yesterday: "I was not told that."

Told that Mr Joe McGowan had also claimed he informed his accountant about the donation, Mr Owens responded: "Do you believe everything Joe McGowan says?"

If a political donation had been mentioned - even if Mr Burke's name was not used - he would have remembered it.

Mr Owens said he did not discuss any political donation with Mr Finnegan, who has given evidence that he was "kept in the dark" about the nature of the payment. He claimed Mr Finnegan had been deceived about the payment by Canio's solicitor in Jersey, Mr Laurence Wheeler.

As far as he was concerned, Mr Finnegan was a "sleeping partner" in the land deals he collaborated on with Brennan and McGowan. Mr Owens said he did not keep Mr Finnegan informed of the details of the deals because the auctioneer was "coming along on a cheap ride".

Mr Owens said there was "no tax reason" for the elaborate offshore financial arrangements he designed on their behalf. The reason for the structure was his clients' desire for "privacy".

The involvement of Brennan and McGowan and Mr Finnegan in a number of offshore companies had been concealed through the use of shares held in trust by their solicitors.

The names of the three owners did not appear in any of the company documents.

Mr Owens explained that the reason he recommended this arrangement was because offshore companies were involved.