£50,000 for horse was paid from ex-minister's account

A £50,000 cheque for a horse apparently bought by a Saudi Arabian diplomat from Mr Charles Haughey was paid through a bank account of the former health minister, Dr John O'Connell.

However, the Moriarty tribunal was told that no records of the horse were available. The money ended up in the account from which the initial £75,000 payment by outside contributors to Celtic Helicopters was funded.

It was written by Dr O'Connell, made out to cash and lodged to the account on February 19th, 1985.

The tribunal was also told that Dr O'Connell informed the inquiry that he did not know then what the cheque was for. Mr Haughey has been asked to comment but he has not done so, so far.

Dr O'Connell had informed the tribunal that he met the diplomat, Mr Fustok, at Goff's bloodstock sales in Kildare. In 1981, he introduced Mr Fustok to Mr Haughey.

In February 1985, when he met Mr Fustok on a social occasion, the Saudi diplomat asked him to pass on a fee of £50,000 to Mr Haughey. Details from Guinness & Mahon bank indicated that Dr O'Connell wrote a cheque for £50,000 on February 18th 1985, from an account at the O'Connell Bridge, Dublin branch of the Bank of Ireland, to "carry through this arrangement".

However, this was four days before the cheque from Mr Fustok was given to Dr O'Connell and lodged to his account.

Mr Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, said Dr O'Connell had been in touch with Mr Haughey about the cheque and he informed the tribunal that Mr Haughey asked him to make the cheque payable to cash.

According to tribunal counsel, Mr Fustok said the money was for a horse that he bought from the Haughey family in 1985. Mr Fustok said that "as he purchases so many racehorses, and as his records do not extend as far back as 1985, he is not able to provide any details of the horse in question".

The tribunal wrote to Mr Fustok in the US on June 28th this year and requested him to provide further information to the tribunal and to attend to give evidence, but has not yet received any response.

Mr Healy said "further scrutiny" of the transaction would be required through evidence by Dr O'Connell and Mr Fustok if he was prepared to give evidence. It needed to be looked at further because of the "unusual features" of the arrangements made to transfer the money to Mr Haughey.