Flynn tried to keep bribery allegations secret - report

A Sunday newspaper has reported that former minister Mr Pádraig Flynn did not report allegations of bribery to gardaí and quoting…

A Sunday newspaper has reported that former minister Mr Pádraig Flynn did not report allegations of bribery to gardaí and quoting a senior civil servant, alleged he "tried to keep the matter secret."

Today's edition of the Sunday Business Post claims that civil servants will tell the Planning Tribunal that Mr Flynn declined to call in the gardaí when he was first alerted to the bribery allegations.

The report quoted a civil servant as stating that Mr Flynn warned that a scandal could frighten away potential investement in the Financial Services Centre.

The Taoiseach declined to comment on reports on Friday that a controversial £50,000 cheque given by developer Mr Tom Gilmartin to Mr Flynn in 1989 was lodged into a non-resident bank account in his and his wife's names, and that half of this was later invested offshore.

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The report, carried on TV3 News, said the Flynns signed a declaration giving a false London address in order to avoid DIRT tax at a time when both were tax resident in Ireland.

The £25,000 was moved later in 1989, according to the report, into three offshore funds on the advice of the Flynn's daughter, Ms Beverley Cooper Flynn.

According to the report, Ms Cooper Flynn maintains she had no beneficial interest in the money and insisted the advice she gave was "totally above board".

The Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny yesterday called on the Taoiseach to make time available in the Dáil for a statement from Deputy Cooper-Flynn to make a statement on the matter.