Files of companies linked to Haughey not at stated office

Files relating to two Cayman Islands fund management companies linked to the financial affairs of the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, were not kept at the address given as their registered offices. The address is a business in George Town run by the late Mr John Furze.

Under Cayman company law, a register of shareholders must be kept at the registered office of a company. This was not the case, however, with Poinciana Fund Ltd and Hamilton Ross Co Ltd, two fund management companies linked to Mr Haughey's S8 and S9 offshore accounts.

Mr Furze's sole partner, Mr Barry Benjamin, says he was not aware that the two companies had registered offices at his office.

The two companies are not listed on the wall outside the door to International Insurance Management Corporation (IIMC), a business Mr Furze set up in 1995 after he retired for the Cayman bank, Ansbacher (Cayman Ltd).

Since the death of Mr Furze in a Miami hospital on July 25th, solicitors representing clients who had funds with Mr Furze have been contacting the George Town office.

Mr Benjamin said he has been unable to assist them, however, as he had no information. The worried clients are residents of a number of countries, including Ireland.

Mr Benjamin works with the insurance end of the business and was not involved with the fund-management companies linked to IIMC.

The fund-management companies are registered with a trust company which is part of IIMC, called Western International Trust Co Ltd. Some of the Furze-run companies are listed at the door to IIMC but others are not and their existence was not known to Mr Benjamin until the death of Mr Furze and the inquiries from the media and solicitors.

Both Poinciana and Hamilton Ross were formerly registered with Ansbacher (Cayman Ltd). A spokesman for the bank would not comment when asked if Mr Furze might have kept files at the bank. The two companies are mistakenly listed in the bank's lobby as registered at the bank.

With the death of Mr Furze, for whom a funeral service is to be held in George Town today, it is unclear who now controls the offshore accounts which are used to meet the costs of Mr Haughey's lifestyle.

Prior to his death, Mr Furze was considered to be the most important potential witness for any tribunal established to investigate the sources of Mr Haughey's wealth.

It is not clear who, if anyone, now has the files relating to Mr Haughey and other Irish residents who held money with Mr Furze.

A third company, called Overseas Nominees Ltd, is still registered with Ansbacher (Cayman Ltd). The register of members at the bank shows that the company was formerly owned by Mr Furze and his colleague, Mr John Collins, who is a director of the bank.

In 1993 the company was acquired by Cayman International & Trust Company Ltd, which is itself owned by Ansbacher.

The Dunnes tribunal heard evidence from the Irish banker, Mr Padraig Collery, that in 1994 Mr Haughey's S8 and S9 accounts were "replenished" with monies from Overseas Nominees.

Mr Collins would not comment when contacted by The Irish Times, nor would the spokesman for the bank.

A large number of people are expected to attend today's service at the Church of God evangelical Protestant church in George Town.

Mr Furze was a former master of the Cayman Freemason Lodge No 8153 and a district governor for Rotary International District 404 in the Caribbean.