Ex-Goodman chief 'misled' over land deal, inquiry told

Mahon Tribunal: A former finance director of the Goodman Group has said he made a mistake by paying stamp duty twice on a land transaction involving Mr Liam Lawlor.

But Mr Brian Britton explained the error by saying Mr Lawlor and solicitor Mr John Caldwell had misled him in relation to the deal involving land at Coolamber, near Lucan.

Mr Britton agreed with his former boss Mr Larry Goodman in his evidence that the company had been "duped" on the transaction, in which Mr Goodman funded the purchase of the land.

Mr Goodman advanced £350,000 to the former Fianna Fáil TD to buy Coolamber in 1987 and told Mr Britton to work out the details.

However, Mr Britton's efforts to agree a financial structure for the deal with Mr Lawlor ran into difficulties. In June 1988, he wrote to Mr Lawlor expressing his "complete frustration about this whole operation" and threatened that Mr Goodman might reconsider his involvement unless agreement was reached.

Yesterday, Mr Britton said he felt quite embarrassed as a professional in the answers he was giving. The tribunal was asking what he had done regarding the transaction and it wasn't his style not to answer these questions.

However, he explained Mr Lawlor and Mr Caldwell were carrying out "a different agenda". "It astounded me that I was being misled for so long and to such an extent in this saga," he said. "I was always trying to get a grip on this . . . it was a very frustrating transaction."

Mr Britton said he paid stamp duty on the transaction, amounting to £12,513, in August 1988, seven months after the duty had been paid for the first time.

This second payment went not to the Exchequer, but to the client account at Mr Caldwell's firm, Binchys solicitors, of Southfield Properties, the tribunal heard. Southfield was an Irish company fronting for the ownership of the land for an offshore company set up by Mr Caldwell, Navona Ltd.

Mr Britton said he had been misled in relation to the stamp duty. At the time, he believed the money was still owed, whereas it had been paid in January 1988.

The second payment was a wrong decision because the stamp duty had already been paid. It had been made quickly as the solicitor had been pressing for the payment and he hadn't checked. Mr Britton said he left the Goodman group in July 1990 but Mr Lawlor and Mr Caldwell had led him to believe that documents were in place to protect Mr Goodman's interest.