'How I bribed politicians': Frank Dunlop & Carrickmines

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday October 28, 2002 18:24 by Irish Independent

'How I bribed politicians': Frank Dunlop & Carrickmines

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent

'How I bribed politicians': Frank Dunlop &
Carrickmines, by Judy Corcoran,

Frank Dunlop's shocking evidence for the Flood
tribunal. The Sunday Independent also solves the
mystery of who owns Jackson Way. Frank Dunlop is to
portray himself as a victim of systematic corruption,
when he gives startling evidence to the Flood tribunal
next month of how he believes he bribedpoliticians.

Mr Dunlop will say he did not invent this system but
was confronted by it. He will say he co-operated fully
with it in the full knowledge that it was the only way
to ensure that certain developments could take place
in Dublin.He will say that the system involved what he
will call a "nexus" of councillors, from Fianna Fail,
Fine Gael and certain Independents.

In return for cash, he will say, they proffered their
support for votes and for signing county Development
Plan motions. The money was requested, he will say.
In many cases, he will say, the payments were made at
a time when elections, local or general, were in the
offing.

But he will go further than that. He will say that
elections were a helpful coincidence for himself and
for the councillors concerned. The elections, he will
say, facilitated the making of a payment in return for
support under the guise of an election contribution.

Next Wednesday, the tribunal will sit to hear
applications for limited legal representations. In
November, it will begin hearings. The first module
will be called Carrickmines 1 Lands. The Sunday
Independent can today also reveal who really owns
Jackson Way Properties Ltd, the controversial shelf
company central to the tribunal's investigations
relating to Carrickmines.

When a complicated web involving several offshore
companies is untangled, it emerges that the Dublin
gaming arcade owner Jim Kennedy and the publicity-shy
Dublin solicitor John Caldwell are the men behind
Jackson Way. Mr Dunlop will say that he personally
received £25,000 from Mr Kennedy on the understanding
that it would be used to ensure that councillors would
support and vote for Paisley Park, lands now known as
Jackson Way.

Mr Dunlop will say he gave £1,000 each to three Fianna
Fail councillors, one of them the late Cyril
Gallagher.
He will say he gave £3,000 to the late Fine Gael
councillor Tom Hand, and a further £3,000 to a Fianna
Fail senator. He will say that he gave £2,000 each to
two Fianna Fail councillors and a Fine Gael
councillor.
He will tell the tribunal that part of £5,000 he paid
to an Independent councillor during the course of the
development plan related to his support for Paisley
Park. He will also say that several of those who did
not sign the rezoning motion received money from him
nonetheless, to ensure their continued support for
Paisley Park.

The Sunday Independent is aware of the identities of
the politicians which Dunlop is about to identify. But
for legal reasons we have decided not to publish their
names. All of the councillors referred to will
categorically deny Dunlop's allegations. Specifically,
they will deny that any political donations they
received were linked to their voting records.

The Sunday Independent can also reveal that Jackson
Way Properties holds the property solely as nominee
for Maskani Management and Renzebrinck Investments.
Maskani Management is owned by RP Harker, a chartered
accountant from Havelock, Douglas, Isle of Man,
together with his wife Helen. They had no involvement
in the company or the complicated purchase and
rezoning of Jackson Way lands. They acted according to
a number of formal and informal agreements. These
agreements gave absolute power and control of the
running of the company to Mr Caldwell, which included
the power to direct the transfer of shares in the
company.

This arrangement ended in November 2001 with the
completion of the declaration of trust in favour of
Pertland Ltd, a company incorporated in Liberia,
Africa. It is understood that Caldwell will tell the
tribunal that Jim Kennedy is associated with Pertland
Ltd. Renzebrinck Investments is a company owned by an
Isle of Man businessman, Martin Bullock, in that he is
the sole director.

But Mr Caldwell will tell the tribunal that he
considers himself to have effectively been the
beneficial owner of the company at all times. Caldwell
has always exercised control over Jackson Way
Properties.