'Serious delays' from Finnegan failure to produce records

The failure of auctioneer Mr John Finnegan to produce records of his trust fund in Guernsey is causing "serious delays" for the tribunal, Mr Justice Flood has said.

The chairman urged Mr Finnegan's lawyers to ensure "absolute priority" was given to legal proceedings in the Channel Islands aimed at securing access to the trust documents.

Last week, the tribunal demanded that Mr Finnegan begin proceedings after hearing he could not get the administrators of his trust to release the documents. He said the administrators, Credit Suisse Trust, had refused to provide him with the records, a claim Mr Justice Flood dismissed as "absolute rubbish".

Yesterday, Mr Pat Hanratty SC, for the tribunal, said the chairman would have to decide whether to proceed with Mr Finnegan's evidence without sight of the trust documents which were central to the tribunal's inquiries, or whether to stand the witness down until they arrived. One way or another, he said, the tribunal's work would be delayed.

Mr Dominick Hussey SC, for Mr Finnegan, said his solicitor had contacted four legal firms in Guernsey since last week, but all had declined to act for the auctioneer because of a conflict of interest. The first firm had explained it was taking instructions from the High Court or the Department of Enterprise regarding their inquiries into accounts held by Irish people in Jersey.

Counsel said that on Monday they finally found a firm of solicitors willing to act for Mr Finnegan in Guernsey. This firm was instructed to make a summary application in the courts to obtain the documents.

Mr Hanratty said the tribunal had discovered from its own inquiries that the position regarding access to trusts was the same in Guernsey as in Ireland. He asked how long it would take to begin proceedings.

Mr Hussey said he presumed the matter could be dealt with in a short time.

Mr Hanratty said the witness hadn't furnished "a scrap" of correspondence relating to the Amber Trust, which was established on his behalf by accountant Mr Des Traynor. There was "no trace" of the documents one would normally expect from a trust - no correspondence, no receipts, no transaction slips and no accounts.

"There was no documentation indicating any communication at any time between any persons since the trust was set up in 1973 and now," he said. The only document provided by Mr Finnegan was a copy of the trust document.

Mr Finnegan said Mr Traynor directed everything that was to be done. "He looked after everything. I didn't understand the mechanics of it all." Mr Finnegan said he never asked questions. He had "absolute faith" in what he did. Asked if he got receipts, Mr Finnegan said he never asked for them.

If there were any documents in existence they were with the trust in Guernsey, he said. However, he then explained that he did business with Credit Suisse "by word of mouth".

Asked how he knew how much was held for him in the trust, the witness explained that he would make a phone call to Credit Suisse. The bank didn't send him statements of account. Once a year, officials would come to Dublin, where they would show him the account. But they wouldn't let him make a copy.

Mr Hanratty said this was extraordinary. Any reputable trust company would correspond with the beneficiaries of the trusts it was minding on a regular basis.

"It is what it is, and that's the way they carried on their business," Mr Finnegan replied.