Money for Lowry sent offshore

A sterling draft for £34,100 must have been sent to Mr Michael Lowry's account in the Channel Islands by AIB in Dame Street, the former Fine Gael minister told the tribunal.

The Dunnes Stores Bangor cheque was the subject of a special clearance request in late July 1991. This allows the cheque's value to be sought within a day of the request, and meant the cheque did not go through the normal AIB clearing system for sterling.

Mr Lowry said he couldn't recall seeking special clearance for the cheque and he thought it unlikely he would make such a request for a cheque from Dunnes Stores. The special clearance appears to have taken place on July 26th. Mr Lowry said he presumed the cheque was still in the banking system. Five days later a bank draft for £34,100 made payable to Mr Lowry was bought at Dame Street. Just over a month later, the £34,100 draft was combined with a draft of £7,562.72 and a mature Channel Islands deposit of £58,337.28 to create a new deposit of £100,000 sterling to Mr Lowry's Channel Islands account.

Mr Lowry told the tribunal he didn't personally send the draft and it must have been sent by the Dame Street branch. He would have signalled his "intention" for the £7,562 draft to the assistant branch manager, Mr Peter Tierney, or one of his team. Mr Lowry said he wouldn't always have filled out lodgement slips but "would have handed over the cheques and the official would have dealt with it". He "rarely gave any instruction as to what account it was actually to go into. I would have left that to the official".