Goodman says he was 'cheated' in land deal

The beef sector tycoon, Mr Larry Goodman, says he was "cheated" in a land deal in which he invested over £500,000 at the instigation of Mr Liam Lawlor.

Mr Goodman told the tribunal yesterday of his "considerable annoyance" at the failure of the former Fianna Fáil TD to repay £157,000 in interest costs he incurred in the deal over 15 years ago.

The businessman said Mr Lawlor promised him a half-share of the expected profits from the west Dublin land deal. However, he received nothing, in spite of the fact that profits of over £2.5 million were generated when the land at Coolamber, near Lucan, was sold on for housing development.

"We got cheated, clearly, and we never even got paid the interest on it," he told the tribunal.

Mr Goodman advanced £350,000 to Mr Lawlor's company, Advanced Proteins Ltd, to buy the Coolamber land in 1987. He gave an additional £50,000 in 1988 to fund cost over-runs, paid stamp duty costing £12,513 and covered interest payments amounting to over £95,000.

Two years later, when he tried to recover his outstanding debt, he was told the land had been sold to a third party for a "disappointing" price, with just enough proceeds to repay the bank loan. The new owner, Vino Properties, registered in the British Virgin Islands, paid £400,000 for the property.

However, Vino later sold the land to a developer for almost £3 million. Mr Lawlor has told the tribunal he had no involvement with Vino; however, he did receive a share of the profits.

Mr Goodman said he first had contact with Mr Lawlor in 1974/75 when one of his companies bought a refrigeration plant and Mr Lawlor was the Irish agent for a company supplying the equipment.

In 1987, Goodman International acquired a small cold store company and it was felt Mr Lawlor's experience in this area would be useful. He was appointed a non-executive director on an annual salary of £2,000.

A month later, Mr Lawlor volunteered his services as a consultant when Mr Goodman was attempting to take over Bailieboro Co-op. The takeover was successful and the politician was paid a fee of £15,000.

Also in 1987, Mr Lawlor told Mr Goodman about his plans to set up a plant for processing bovine blood plasma, using equipment imported from Argentina. The Goodman Group, which slaughtered one-quarter of all cattle in Ireland, was "keenly interested" in such a project as it would be able to supply the raw material.

Mr Goodman agreed to support the project and paid Mr Lawlor £3,500 a month between June 1988 and August 1990, when his companies went into examinership.

He described these payments, totalling £94,000, as "commercial contributions, not political contributions", adding that he gave full details of his political contributions when he appeared before the beef tribunal.

At a meeting in 1987 about the blood plasma project, Mr Lawlor also asked for a "bridging facility" to buy the Coolmine property.

According to Mr Goodman, the politician estimated the site and development costs at £350,000. Mr Lawlor said he was confident he could sell the property in two to five years for £600,000.

Mr Goodman said he was offered a half-share on the first £600,000 in profits. He agreed to advance the £350,000 sought as a short-term loan. The risks involved were negligible and the sum sought was not significant, compared to the £20 million the Goodman Group was then taking in each week.

In December 1987, Goodman International was repaid the £350,000 through a loan from the Bank of Nova Scotia. However, it retained an exposure for the interest costs.

Two years later, the land had still not been sold. Mr Goodman grew "uneasy" and sought repayment of the debt. He stopped paying the interest in July 1990.

Later, he learned the land was sold to Tiernan Homes for £2.2 million. (In fact, the tribunal has heard, the price was almost £3 million and the profit on the deal £2.5 million.)

He said he pursued Mr Lawlor for the repayment of his outstanding debt but in spite of repeated efforts by his lawyers it has remained unpaid to date.

"The bank got all its money. In fact, the only one who didn't get his money was me," he told the tribunal.