Harney inquiry to question exbanker

A former Guinness & Mahon banker who maintained coded client records for the Ansbacher deposits is to be approached as part of the investigation initiated by the Tanaiste, Ms Mary Harney.

Mr Padraig Collery, who maintained the secret "memorandum accounts", also authorised payments from the deposits to pay the living expenses of the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey.

The authorised officer looking into the operation of the Ansbacher deposits, Mr Gerard Ryan, has been appointed to investigate Ansbacher Cayman Ltd, the Cayman Islands bank, and can seek documents and information from its agents or former agents.

Mr Ryan is also investigating Irish Intercontinental Bank (IIB) and Guinness & Mahon bank, the two banks which held deposits in Dublin on behalf of Ansbacher Cayman Ltd. The two Irish banks maintained general deposit accounts and information relating to these has already been passed to Mr Ryan by the banks following the issuing of orders by him.

The McCracken Tribunal was told how Mr Collery, acting on the instructions of the late Mr Des Traynor and, subsequently, the late Mr John Furze, maintained "memorandum accounts" which used codes and contained information about the deposits which was not available to the two banks. Mr Traynor and Mr Furze were both executives with the Cayman bank.

The memorandum accounts kept track of how much of the money in the general deposit accounts belonged to each Irish resident who had money deposited. A 1989 internal audit report for Guinness & Mahon examined the operation of the Ansbacher deposits and the memorandum accounts. "Each deposit is identified by a code. We understand that DPC [Mr Collery] is aware of their names," the report stated.

However, Mr Collery in his evidence to the McCracken Tribunal, indicated he did not know all the names. He said he had not known that two accounts, the S8 and S9 accounts, held money for Mr Haughey until told after the death of Mr Traynor in 1994. Subsequent to Mr Traynor's death, Mr Collery would authorise payments from the Ansbacher deposits to the company, BEL Services, which handled Mr Haughey's living expenses.

Mr Collery has already been served with an order of discovery by the Moriarty Tribunal, which is investigating Mr Haughey's finances. Documents held by Mr Collery and relating to Mr Haughey's memorandum accounts were the subject of a order during the McCracken Tribunal and it was noted at the time that other documents connected to the Ansbacher deposits were in his possession.

Following Mr Traynor's death in 1994 some of the Ansbacher files were destroyed and others brought back to the Cayman Islands. The full extent of the documents held by Mr Collery is not known.

Ms Harney said yesterday the Companies Acts gave her, as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, particular powers "and I intend to exercise them and I intend to ensure they are enforced".