Former Fine Gael Minister Mr Michael Lowry has denied to the Moriarty tribunal that a handwritten document purporting to give details of a £147,000 loan from Mr David Austin was "backdated" after the money was paid into his account in the Isle of Man in 1996.
In his third day of evidence this week, Mr Lowry again repeatedly apologised for failing to disclose to the tribunal until last April the existence of the Irish Nationwide account which had held that money.
Mr Lowry said he had collected the handwritten loan document, prepared by Mr Austin, from Mr Austin at his Dublin home. He had no precise recollection of whether he had signed the document on the spot or whether he had taken it away and signed it later.
Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, put it to Mr Lowry that Mr Austin's executors, his solicitor, his accountant and even his wife had found no copy of the document after Mr Austin's death. Mr Lowry said he was certain Mr Austin would have had a copy.
Replying to a question from Mr Healy on whether it was possible that the document had been "backdated" to the lodgment to the account in 1996, Mr Lowry said this was "definitely not the case".
Mr Healy suggested that if the money was not "by way of a loan" it would have been very easy to turn it into the appearance of a loan by preparing such a document. Mr Lowry repeated that it was a loan, structured in such a way as to meet the requirements he had at the time.
Mr Lowry has stated that the money was to be used for the refurbishment of a house he had bought in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
He said that there was "nothing mysterious or sinister" about the dealings he had with Mr Austin. The £147,000 was not a gift and it was not a payment. Questioned about the "round the houses" flow of funds from an account belonging to Mr Denis O'Brien, which had the appearance of being the same money which ultimately ended up in his own Isle of Man account, Mr Lowry denied that he had any connection with Mr O'Brien.
He had neither asked for, nor received, any payment, ever, from Mr O'Brien or anybody connected with him, Mr Lowry said.
Asked if he was concerned that money Mr O'Brien had used to pay for an apartment in Spain, which had been sold to him by Mr Austin, was then put into his account in the Isle of Man, Mr Lowry said he was not.
Mr Healy said the funds paid into Mr Austin's account at around that time related to the sale of an apartment in Spain to Mr O'Brien, then head of Esat Telecom and one of Ireland's "most high-profile businessmen". However, the "business end" of that transaction, i.e. the actual transfer of title to the apartment, did not take place until some years later.
Mr Lowry insisted that Mr Austin had never discussed his personal financial affairs with him and said he did not know to whom his friend had sold the property in Spain. He did not accept that the money which ended up in his Isle of Man account was Mr O'Brien's money.
Mr Lowry's evidence continues today.