A former financial analyst with National Irish Bank told the High Court yesterday he wrote an internal letter of July 1990 which made a reference to people "whose money is hot" and to how it should be invested. Mr Patrick Cooney said the word "hot" did not have the same implications then as now.
On the 20th day of the action by Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn alleging she was libelled in a series of RTE programmes, Mr Cooney said the letter, although written by him, was never sent to any of the bank's financial services advisers, who included Ms Cooper-Flynn, because of the outbreak of the Gulf War which caused turmoil in the money markets.
The action is against RTE; journalist Mr Charlie Bird and a retired farmer, Mr James Howard, Wheaton Hall, Drogheda, Co Louth. They deny libel.
Mr Cooney, who worked with NIB from December 1989 to July 1996, was called by RTE yesterday. Questioned by Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for the defence, in relation to his reference in the July 1990 letter to people "whose money is hot", he said he had meant that in regard to those who were suitable people to invest in the company's Emerald portfolio, such people were a "hot prospect".
It was a term he would not use in 2001, he said. The word "hot" did not have the same implications then. Now, "hot money" meant money not declared to the Revenue.
In the letter, dated July 30th, 1990, and which was intended to accompany that month's Investment Bulletin on funds on which the bank should be concentrating at that time, it was stated: "Finally, we have the people who have money invested offshore already or whose money is `hot'. In this scenario, we should in almost all cases direct the monies into our New Bond `the Emerald International Portfolio'."
Mr Cooney said the letter was not sent to the bank's financial services department advisers - who included Ms Cooper-Flynn - because it was over taken by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait which drove up oil prices and pushed stock prices through the floor. It was written with the intention of being sent out to all advisers.
During the hearing, the jury was sent out for 10 minutes while legal submissions were made. On its return, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, said it was unfair that Ms Cooper-Flynn should be fixed with some responsibility for what the letter said.
The judge said he was warning the jury that cross-examination of Ms Cooper-Flynn had been carried out on the basis she had received this letter but the court now knew she did not.
Cross-examined by Mr Garrett Cooney SC, for Ms Cooper-Flynn, the witness said the inference that something offshore had "a smell" was entirely inaccurate. Offshore had been going on in Ireland for many years. People had been investing in property offshore but that did not mean it was illegal. There were probably more people who invested offshore than onshore.
Mr (Patrick) Cooney said CMI personal portfolios were available and sold to Irish residents. Asked about the use of the words "numbered account", he said it was not the position in relation to CMI personal portfolios that somebody was concealing their identity. The details were in black and white on every application form and file. The full details of the identity of the investor and the address were behind the number.
Mr Des Peelo, of Peelo and Partners accountancy firm, said he had been a chartered accountant for 33 years and a member of the Institute of Taxation for 23 years. Before January 1998, he had never heard of a CMI personal portfolio or of CMI being active in the Irish market.
As he understood it, money was transferred from a bank in Ireland to the Isle of Man, converted into sterling, converted back into pounds and returned to Ireland in the name of CMI. He had never seen a similar form of investment and could not give any rationality for it.
The hearing resumes on Monday.