US investor headed firm contracted to run lottery

Mr Guy Snowden, the US businessman who invested $100,000 in Celtic Helicopters in early 1993, has told The Irish Times that he never met Mr Charles Haughey or his son, Ciaran. Mr Ciaran Haughey is a director of Celtic Helicopters and a shareholder in the company.

A spokesman for Mr Snowden said that the multi-millionaire businessman had made a personal investment in the helicopter company. He said that there would be no further comment on the investment. The Moriarty tribunal has heard that the investment was secured by the late Mr Des Traynor.

Mr Snowden is a former chairman of the G-Tech Corporation, which has had a multi-million pound contract with the National Lottery since 1987. That contract was renewed in 1993.

Mr Snowden resigned from GTech and sold off his shareholding last year after losing a libel action in London against Mr Richard Branson, who had claimed Mr Snowden offered him a bribe in 1993 in return from withdrawing a bid he had made for the operation of the British lottery.

G-Tech was accused of improper lobbying and giving gifts in relation to the Texas lottery in 1997. A decision to reopen tendering on the operation of that lottery was rescinded after G-Tech sued. G-Tech reportedly runs about 70 per cent of the world's lotteries.

In 1992 the Department of Finance decided to renew the licence to run the National Lottery held by An Post, although the original 10-year licence still had four years to run. The new licence was to March 2000. The original 10-year licence was the subject of a competitive tender, but the licence to March 2000 was agreed privately between An Post and the Department.

G-Tech won the contract to run the National Lottery's on-line system from An Post in October 1987, following a competitive tender. The contract was for five years, with a renewable option.

A spokeswoman for the National Lottery said that in July 1992 tenders were sought for the operation of improved online management of the lottery's system. There were two tenders, one of which was from G-Tech. The G-Tech tender was successful. The new contract was from March 1993 to March 2000, the date the An Post licence comes to an end.

The spokeswoman said that for the contract for the improved online system to be put out to tender in July 1992 the agreement with the Department of Finance to extend An Post's licence must have been already agreed.

The latest figures available for the National Lottery are for 1997 and show operating expenses of £50 million. The figure would include the G-Tech fees, but no breakdown is available.

Mr Xavier McAuliffe, the Kerry businessman who made a £50,000 investment in Celtic Helicopters in 1992, has told The Irish Times that the investment followed an approach by the company's directors. He had no documentation to show he had the shareholding, which he said was held in trust for him by Larchfield Securities, the company associated with the children of Mr Charles Haughey.

Mr McAuliffe said he was a "very small" shareholder in Kerry Airport, which is known to have received some of the millions invested by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, a Saudi banker given documentation for 11 Irish passports for Saudi and Pakistani nationals in 1990. Mr McAuliffe said he had nothing to do with the Sheikh Mahfouz investment.