MR Ben Dunne told the tribunal there was no doubt in his mind that the beneficiary of the transactions between him and Mr Desmond Traynor was the former Taoiseach, Mr Haughey.
He was giving details to Mr Denis McCullough SC, for the tribunal, of the payments made through Mr Dunne's friend and business associate, Mr Noel Fox, to off shore bank accounts named by Mr Traynor between 1987 and 1990. These came to more than £1 million, and there was a further £210,000 paid directly by him to Mr Haughey.
The first amount was for £205,000, and was paid earlier than Mr Dunne had expected, late in 1987, through a cheque made out to Mr John Furze. Mr Fox had indicated there was some urgency about it.
In July, 1988, Mr Fox told him that Mr Haughey required a further payment. This was of £471,000 sterling and was also made out to Mr John Furze. Mr Fox had been told it was to be paid into an account, whose number was given, in Barclays Bank, Knightsbridge, London, and the money came from a company called European Corporate Services.
"This was an account under my control in the Isle of Man, people I used who were giving services in the Isle of Man," Mr Dunne said. Asked about the Equifax Trust Corporation AG in Switzerland, he said it was used by European Corporate Services, and held some funds and assets belonging to Mr Dunne and to Dunnes Stores.
He had contacted Mr Julian Harper of ECS in the Isle of Man and asked him to transfer £471,000 sterling from the US dollar deposit in the Swiss account, and pay it to the named account in Barclays Bank in London.
Mr McCullough showed Mr Dunne letters from Mr Harper arranging this, and confirming that it had been done, and he identified them for the tribunal.
He had not been aware of all the intermediaries involved, but knew the money had been transferred. This brought the total sum to about £700,000? which was the sum agreed with Mr Traynor through Mr Fox.
Was there any doubt in your mind as to whom would be the beneficiary of that? Mr McCullough asked.
"None. It definitely was Mr Haughey," Mr Dunne replied.
However he told Mr McCullough he could not assist the tribunal with the further movement of the money out of the Furze account.
Recalling the original discussion he had with Mr Fox, after the latter had been contacted by Mr Traynor, he said the original figure talked about was £1 million.
"In discussions I brought it down to £700,000. I was trying to keep it as low as possible," he said So he was not surprised when Mr Fox came to him again and said he had been approached again by Mr Traynor saying Mr Haughey had further financial difficulties.
"In all walks of life what you arc trying to achieve goes over the agreed figure," he said.
Asked if he thought Mr Haughey did not just have a debt, but ongoing financial difficulties, he said, I understood he owed the banks around one million quid." So when Mr Fox came back to him seeking a further £150,000, he felt Mr Haughey "had these debts which would be very embarrassing for him".
Again, the request was for a cheque payable to Mr Furze, with details of the bank and the account number. He said he knew who Mr Furze was and Mr Fox knew who he was.
He agreed with counsel for the tribunal that the first amount was intended to be paid out of the Equifex account, but because of the urgency with which it was sought it was paid from an account controlled by the Dunnes Stores solicitor in Bangor, Co Down.
The next payment was to be made to the Royal Bank of Scotland in Threadneedle Street, London, to an account held by Henry Ansbacher, with a named number.
Again, Mr Dunne told Mr McCullough that he had no doubt in his mind that the beneficiary of this sum was Mr Haughey.
In 1990, he was approached again by Mr Fox after a Dunnes Stores executives' meeting, and asked for a further £200,000. He did not recall if any explanation was given for the request. "I felt it was part of the original debt Mr Haughey had," he said.
Mr McCullough showed him a note which detailed the amount, £200,000, and the bank account, that of Ansbacher Ltd, a Cayman Islands bank, in the (quite separate Hen Ansbacher bank in Mitre Street, London. Mr Dunne said all of it, with the exception of the sum of £200,000, appeared to be in Mr Fox's writing.
"Were you in any way perturbed this might be an never ending process? Mr McCullough asked.
Mr Dunne laughed. No, he replied. I was the man who was doing it 50 I had the right 10 say no. I was not being pressurised so that never crossed my mind."
This amount was paid out of another account controlled by Mr Dunne, Tutberry in the Isle of Man, and was the last payment in which Mr Fox was involved. It brought the total number of payments made in this way to more than £1 million.