A former director of Celtic Helicopters has expressed his "total surprise" at the evidence of the Monaco-based businessman Mr David Gresty that he was told he would get a share of up to 10 per cent in the aviation company for a £100,000 investment.
Mr Paul Carty explained to the tribunal his role in raising finance for Celtic Helicopters from the insurance broker Mr Mike Murphy, who got Mr Gresty to make the £100,000 investment in September 1982.
Mr Carty said he spoke to Mr Murphy a number of times on the phone and met the broker twice, the first time on October 21st, 1982, when he gave him details of the Ansbacher account into which the £100,000 payment should be paid. This was a number of weeks after Mr Murphy had met Mr Gresty in Paris and had received his approval to invest the sum in Celtic Helicopters.
Mr Carty, an unpaid non-executive director of Celtic Helicopters between 1985 and 1992 and now a partner at Deloitte & Touche, said he discussed in October the possibility of issuing shares corresponding to an investment in the aviation company. It was suggested that £100,000 would equal 8 per cent of any shares issued.
Asked to explain how Mr Gresty would have known the previous month that he could get up to 10 per cent of shares for the sum, Mr Carty said he could not explain it "unless discussions took place with somebody else".
Mr Carty said the late Mr Des Traynor was responsible for working out how the £100,000, which formed part of a £290,000 capital injection into Celtic Helicopters from five businessmen, would be broken into shares.
Mr Carty said it was the intention that the investors would get something to prove their investment in the company but "the original owners didn't want to lose control" of it. Mr Traynor was to decide on this matter "on behalf of the company and the Haughey family".
In the event, no shares were issued to the investors.
Earlier, an auditor who examined the accounts of Mike Murphy Insurance Brokers (MMIB), explained how the company had treated its transactions with Celtic Helicopters in its books.
Mr Terry Quigley said the £100,000 investment was regarded as a payment by MMIB to Mr Gresty's firm, DB Agencies, to part-clear an indebtedness.
The series of payments made by MMIB to clear a £92,500 loan taken out to fund Celtic Helicopters' insurance premium in 1983 were treated as a debt due by the aviation company.
