Ex-NCB chairman `contact point' for account

Mr Dermot Desmond was the "contact point" for an NCB Stockbrokers nominee account from which money was transferred apparently for the benefit of Mr Charles Haughey.

At one point the account, held in Ulster Bank for Ansbacher (Cayman) nominee company Overseas Nominees Ltd, contained almost £340,000 in funds. Mr Desmond has said the only knowledge he had of who the account benefited was that it was held by Overseas Nominees Ltd.

The head of the private client division at the firm, Mr John Keilthy, told Mr Jerry Healy SC a sum of £105,586 was credited to the account on July 26th, 1988.

Lodgements of £149,432.16 on August 23rd and £98,504.50 on September 26th came from NCB's settlement account in Bank of Ireland.

On May 8th 1990, £206,613.57 was withdrawn from the account. This was used to purchase a sterling draft for £200,000 made payable to Overseas Nominees.

On March 15th, 1991, £95,000 was drawn from the account and was used to purchase a sterling draft for £85,640.20 made payable to Ansbacher Ltd.

From 1991 onwards the account was "largely dormant".

On February 8th, 1994, Mr Traynor wrote to NCB instructing that the balance of the securities be sold.

Mr Desmond ceased to have any involvement in NCB after it was bought by Ulster Bank in 1994, having stepped down as chairman a few years earlier.

The account closed in November 1995, after Mr Traynor's death on the written instruction of Mr Padraig Collery and the balance of £165,471.99 was transferred to the account of Hamilton Ross in Irish Intercontinental Bank.

Mr Philip Dalton of the Central Bank said Irish residents who were beneficial owners of offshore accounts had to seek clearance from the Central Bank under exchange control rules that applied at the time.