Ansbacher depositors may yet be identified

Some of the State's most senior business figures may be publicly identified as having had money in the secretive Ansbacher deposits, following a court application from the Tanaiste yesterday.

An application to serve papers on Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd, the Cayman Islands bank which lodged millions of pounds in Dublin banks on behalf of Irish residents, was granted in the High Court yesterday.

The application is the opening move by Ms Harney to seek to have a High Court inspector appointed to the Cayman bank under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 1990.

The development follows the completion by an authorised officer, Mr Gerard Ryan, of his 19-month inquiry into the Cayman bank. The Tanaiste is required by law to keep his report confidential.

The reports of High Court inspectors, however, may be published. Under Section 8, inspectors have the power to examine documents and interview witnesses under oath. It is likely any inspector appointed to investigate the Ansbacher deposits will interview deposit-holders and may choose to name them.

The main operator of the deposits was the late Mr Des Traynor but his assistant, Mr Padraig Collery, and his secretary, Ms Joan Williams, are likely to be able to assist any investigation by a High Court inspector. There is also a certain amount of documentation in relation to the accounts still in existence.

A coded memorandum account system was used by Mr Traynor to keep secret the identities of those who had money in the Ansbacher deposits.

At one stage the deposits, which were in existence from the 1970s, held £38 million. The money was owned by Irish residents and the Tanaiste has said some of the account-holders were from the highest levels of Irish business. The former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, was among them.

Mr Ryan was appointed an authorised officer to Ansbacher (Cayman) in January 1998. He had earlier been appointed to Guinness & Mahon bank (G&M) and Irish Intercontinental Bank, the two Dublin institutions which held the deposits. Mr Ryan has also been appointed to Kentford Securities Ltd, a company run by Mr Traynor, and College Trustees Ltd, a Guernsey company which handled trusts for Irish residents.

When Mr Ryan completes his reports, Ms Harney will consider whether a High Court inspector should be appointed to make further inquiries.

The Comptroller & Auditor General, in his DIRT report published on July 20th, said he had been informed by G&M there were 400 accounts in the name of Ansbacher (Cayman)/Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust.