The trial opened at Waterford Circuit Court yesterday of property developer Michael Ryan (60), of The Sweepstakes, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 and Al Eile Stud, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, who denies three charges that he made corrupt payments totalling €80,000 to a politician.
The first day of the trial featured evidence from Jenny Forsey, former wife of Fred Forsey, a local politician alleged to have received €80,000 in corrupt payments from the developer.
She recalled how their finances “weren’t good” in the summer of 2006 but that, by the end of that August, they went on a family holiday to Rome and her then husband was buying new furniture and carpets.
The State alleges that Mr Ryan made the payments in August, October and December of 2006 as a “present” to Mr Forsey, then a member of Dungarvan Town Council, to induce him to secure the rezoning of land outside Dungarvan from agricultural to residential and industrial use.
Ms Forsey told the court that she and Mr Forsey married in August 1990 and had three children. They were socialising in The Moorings pub in Dungarvan in July 2006 when she saw her husband speaking to Mr Ryan.
Family finances
Asked by Alex Owens SC, prosecuting, how the family finances were at the time, she said: "They weren't good."
They had no holidays arranged by August 2006, she said, as “we wouldn’t have had the finances”.
On August 23rd or 24th she found out they were going to Rome on holiday and in the restaurant at Cork Airport she saw Mr Forsey with “a substantial amount of money” in his wallet. On their return “he seemed to have more money” and “he started to buy things for the house”, she told the court.
They separated in the autumn of 2006 and she later found out he had a girlfriend. She said he borrowed €10,000 from her, saying he needed to buy a car for his driving instruction business, and things got “heated” when he didn’t pay it back when he said he would.
She agreed there was “a showdown” on December 22nd, 2006, outside the house, and that she “threatened him”. He then started paying the money back “in dribs and drabs”. In June 2007, he “disappeared” to Australia.
Bank transactions
Evidence was heard from retired Supt Tom O'Grady of a statement made by Mr Ryan to gardaí in June 2009, after he heard investigations were being made into bank transactions.
He said Mr Forsey had approached him in July 2006 and said he wanted to buy two houses in Dungarvan and sell them on before the contracts closed.
Mr Forsey had asked him for a loan of €70,000, which he would pay back when he sold the houses, Mr Ryan told gardaí, so he had agreed to loan him this money.
Mr Forsey had asked for a further €10,000 in December for “extras” for the houses, and this was also paid.
The money had nothing to do with land outside Dungarvan, which Mr Ryan wanted to develop, he said in his statement.
He denied to gardaí that Mr Forsey was a “buddy” of his and said he was “anxious” to get the money back.
Fred had “disappeared”, he said, and he didn’t know where he was. The trial continues today.