CAB may seize €13m award to Jackson Way firm

dublin | environment | news report Tuesday November 18, 2003 04:09 by carrickminder

Council offered €7.6m for M50 land in Carrickmines

More news regarding the M50 route that goes through Carrickmines Castle

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is to begin an immediate examination of the €13 million arbitration award made to controversial property company Jackson Way with a view to seizing it, write Paul Cullen and Conor Lally.

CAB has four to eight weeks in which to decide on whether to seize the award before Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council makes the payment to the company for lands acquired at Carrickmines for the M50 motorway.

The council has no legal option other than to pay the award made by the arbitrator, provided Jackson Way can prove legal title to the 20 acres of land. Any further delay will lead to a higher bill, as interest is payable.

Jackson Way is under investigation by the Mahon tribunal, which has heard allegations from former Government press secretary Mr Frank Dunlop that one of the company's owners, Mr Jim Kennedy, provided £25,000 to bribe councillors for the rezoning of the company's land at Carrickmines.

The tribunal completed its year-long public investigation of the allegations last month, but a report is not expected for some time.

It is understood CAB must establish that the Jackson Way lands increased in value as a direct result of corruption in the planning process.

If CAB is satisfied the value of the land was positively affected by corruption, the bureau will then apply the proceeds of crime legislation and argue the award to Mr Kennedy represents the proceeds of crime. CAB would then go to the High Court and freeze the money before permanently confiscating it.

Jackson Way initially sought €113 million for the land, but then revised its claim downwards to €47 million. The council offered only €7.6 million.

The arbitrator, Mr John Shackleton, valued the land itself at €9.691 million, but added €2.296 million for "injurious affection", or the amount by which the rest of the company's land was devalued by the building of the motorway.

He also awarded €873,000 for "disturbance". His award is lower than the prices achieved in recent land sales in the area.

Mr Shackleton noted that the company's legal title was freehold with vacant possession, but was subject to a number of easements, way leaves and rights-of-way.

A council spokesman said this legal title would be carefully examined before any payment was made. He estimated the conveyancing procedure could be completed in four to eight weeks if no title problems arise. "Anyone who feels they have a legitimate interest in the outcome of this matter should know that the endgame will be reached at the end of this period," he said.

Any payment made by the council can be recouped from the National Roads Authority.

During the arbitration hearings, lawyers for the council claimed that the company's evidence on its ownership structure was not "credible" because it conflicted with evidence given to the tribunal.

Also in October, solicitor Mr John Caldwell admitted misleading the planning tribunal about the ownership of Jackson Way.

He originally denied having any ownership of Jackson Way, but now concedes that he has an "indirect beneficial interest".

The tribunal has spent four years trying to unravel the mystery of Jackson Way's ownership, but now believes solicitor Mr Caldwell and Mr Kennedy control the company through offshore trusts.

A Jackson Way source said yesterday the amount of the arbitrator's award was "in the ballpark of what we expected, only a year late".

While the award was far less than the company had sought, it was 40 per cent more than the council had been prepared to pay.

A local Labour councillor, Mr Denis O'Callaghan, has tabled a motion calling on the council not to pay any more money to Jackson Way pending the findings of the tribunal. Mr O'Callaghan also called on the council not to proceed with any rezoning of the rest of Jackson Way's land in Carrickmines until the tribunal reports and he urged the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, not to permit any further payments pending the tribunal findings.