MAHON TRIBUNAL: One of the figures behind Jackson Way has admitted misleading the planning tribunal about the ownership of the controversial property company.
Mr John Caldwell said information he gave to the tribunal was factually incorrect in a number of respects. He regretted not having been more helpful when contacted two years ago.
Mr Caldwell originally denied having any ownership of Jackson Way, but now concedes that he has an "indirect beneficial interest".
He also told the tribunal two years ago that Paisley Park, Jackson Way's predecessor company, had appointed the businessman Mr Jim Kennedy to act as an agent in buying lands at Carrickmines in the late 1980s.
In fact, this arrangement was instigated by Mr Kennedy himself who, along with Mr Caldwell, has been linked to the ownership of Jackson Way.
The tribunal has been trying for three years to unravel the ownership structure of Jackson Way, which is at the centre of allegations that bribes were paid to politicians in return for the rezoning of the Carrickmines lands.
Yesterday, Mr Caldwell denied that he had hidden his involvement with Mr Kennedy in a company that made a £2 million compensation claim against Dublin County Council in the 1980s.
As a young solicitor, he set up the company, called 85 Developments, with Mr Kennedy and raised £160,000 to buy lands at Portrane. As with his other land deals with Mr Kennedy, the money came from an Isle of Man financial adviser, Mr Martin Bullock.
After planning permission was refused on the lands, the company sued the council for compensation but was unsuccessful.
Mr Caldwell acknowledged that he and Mr Kennedy would share the proceeds of any development on a 50/50 basis, but he denied that he was the legal or beneficial owner of 85 Developments.
He was the ultimate beneficiary "in the de facto sense, but not in the legal sense".
He said Mr Bullock and his mother were the owners of the company, though he acknowledged that he had the power to issue directions to Mr Bullock. He was at the "grace and favour" of Mr Bullock.
Mr Caldwell said he trusted Mr Bullock implicitly and didn't feel threatened while he was alive. However, if he were to die, he (Mr Caldwell) could find himself in a very difficult position, as ownership would pass to members of Mr Bullock's family. "I'm a victim of my own construct," he told the tribunal. He now wanted to create "checks and balances" in the relationship and to get Mr Bullock to make a will.He agreed with Judge Gerald Keys that until such time as he became the beneficial owner of the funds in the Isle of Man he wouldn't have to pay a penny in tax on them.
Mr Caldwell said that he lived in the Republic from 1977 to 1995, but insisted he was never domiciled here. Domicile was a matter of choice and he was domiciled in Northern Ireland, where he was born.
Under this structure, he wouldn't be liable to tax on income earned outside the State. But he admitted that he didn't have an address in the North in this period.
Mr Caldwell was not listed as a director of 85 Developments and another solicitor in his firm, Binchys, dealt with the company. But he denied an assertion by Judge Keys that he was hiding or distancing himself from the transactions the company was involved in.
Judge Keys said that this meant that Mr Caldwell could make huge profits from a deal in Ireland and not pay any capital gains tax, even though he was resident in Ireland.
This was why the witness was denying beneficial ownership of the companies; otherwise, he would be liable for tax.
Mr Caldwell's claim that he wasn't the owner of the companies when he controlled them was "extraordinary", Judge Keys said.
