Finnegan says he was deceived on £60,000 payment to Burke

The auctioneer Mr John Finnegan has claimed he was deliberately and systematically deceived about the manner in which his money was channelled to contribute to a payment to the former minister, Mr Ray Burke.

Mr Finnegan said he had "no idea" about what was going on in relation to the payment to Mr Burke. It came as a "bolt from the blue" that part of the proceeds due to him from a land deal involving the builders Brennan and McGowan was being held back, ostensibly to pay for architects' fees. "It was never discussed with me and it never had my approval," he said.

Canio, an offshore company owned by Mr Finnegan and Brennan and McGowan, paid Mr Burke £60,000 in 1984.

Some £10,000 of this was Mr Finnegan's, but he says he did not know the purpose to which the money was being put. Correspondence from Canio's solicitor in Jersey, Mr Laurence Wheeler, refers to the money being reserved for architects' fees and other expenses, and makes no reference to a political donation. Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, said if Mr Finnegan did not know what the deduction was for it followed that Mr Wheeler was engaging in a "deliberate and systematic deception" of Mr Finnegan and his trustees.

"Yes, very definitely, and Laurence Wheeler will have to answer for this," Mr Finnegan replied. Asked why Mr Wheeler would have concealed the true reason for the payment, the witness said he didn't know. He agreed Mr Wheeler would be liable for fraud if this evidence was correct.