Jackson Way's title flawed, tribunal told

MAHON TRIBUNAL: A multi-million euro payout to controversial land company Jackson Way looks even more unlikely after the tribunal heard that the company has no legal title to the land for which it is claiming compensation at Carrickmines in south Dublin.

Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council said yesterday it would study closely the evidence presented by tribunal lawyers, which suggests that Jackson Way has no legal claim to the Carrickmines lands.

Jackson Way was last year awarded €13 million in compensation for 20 acres of its lands that were acquired for the South-Eastern motorway. However, the company, which originally claimed €116 million, must first prove title to the land before claiming the money.

After representatives of Jackson Way applied for payment, the council responded with a series of questions relating to the company's claim for title. A council source said there was "a long way to go" before any payout was contemplated.

Jackson Way is under separate investigation by the tribunal and the Criminal Assets Bureau over allegations that councillors were bribed to rezone the Carrickmines lands. CAB has indicated it will freeze the company's assets if the council makes any payment.

While the tribunal has significantly undermined Jackson Way's claim to the land, it is no nearer to establishing its real owners. The latest twist would appear to point to ownership being held by a mysterious Panama-registered company, Iris Development.

The tribunal heard yesterday that Jackson Way's legal title was flawed in at least two major respects. Tribunal counsel, Mr Des O'Neill SC, said its claim to title was based on five false documents. Some of these involved the use of a false date, while others gave a false indication of who was in control of the company.

Mr Frank Friel, a solicitor who handled the conveyancing of the land in the 1990s, said Jackson Way was not the legal owner based on the title documents he had seen.

In addition, he agreed with Mr O'Neill there was a "fundamental flaw" associated with the title documents relating to Paisley Park, the offshore company that acquired the land from a local farmer.

Paisley Park bought the Carrickmines land for £700,000 in 1989, but was liquidated four years later. Ownership was then transferred to a Birmingham-based company, Jackson Way.

However, Mr O'Neill said yesterday the documents transferring ownership of the company from Paisley Park were not valid because they were signed by the former directors of the company and not by the liquidator who was acting for the company at the time.

Up to 1992, the tribunal heard, majority ownership of Paisley Park was vested in two trustee companies, Renzenbrinck Investments and Maskani Management, incorporated in Panama and the Isle of Man respectively. However, in May 1992, the shareholding of these two companies was transferred to Iris Development Company Incorporated, based in Panama.

In 1993, as part of the liquidation in specie of Paisley Park, Jackson Way was set up to hold the land as nominee for Renzenbrinck and Maskani. Mr Friel was directed to transfer the interests of these two companies to Jackson Way.

Mr Friel agreed with counsel that Renzenbrinck and Maskani were no longer the majority shareholders in the company and were therefore not entitled to receive a distribution in specie.

Mr Friel said Jackson Way did not have any title to the property. Iris Development was the party that was to receive the Carrickmines land on distribution when Paisley Park was liquidated.

Mr O'Neill said there were people behind the various corporate entities and the companies themselves were "pieces on a chessboard and no more". There was nothing to suggest that Iris Development was a company separate and distinct from Paisley Park, Renzenbrinck or any of the other companies.

Lawyers for one of the parties linked to the ownership of Jackson Way, Mr John Caldwell, indicated that he did not agree with the tribunal's analysis of the documents.

Mr Stephen Miley, solicitor, said the evidence had come as a "complete surprise" to him and raised a lot of issues that his counsel would have to address. This cross-examination of Mr Friel is not likely to take place before next May. A second presumed owner of Jackson Way, Mr Jim Kennedy, is refusing to co-operate with the tribunal.