Judge Alan Mahon has accused former assistant Dublin city and county manager Mr George Redmond of giving ridiculous and evasive answers in his evidence.
The tribunal chairman said he and his fellow judges were "not fools" and Mr Redmond would have to be "somewhat more frank" in his replies. Mr Redmond was being asked to explain how a 1990 Dublin county council document dealing with land at Carrickmines came to be found in his house when it was raided by the Criminal Assets Bureau in 1999.
He had earlier denied having anything to do with the land, which was owned by businessman Mr Jim Kennedy, after his retirement in June 1989. However, the document referred to a council meeting that took place 17 months after he had retired.
Mr Redmond said he didn't recall the document but there could have been a number of reasons why it was in his files. Judge Mahon asked the witness to state these reasons. Mr Redmond was refusing to give a straight answer, he suggested.
Mr Redmond said that people came to him from time to time, so someone could have given him the document.
"That's a ridiculous answer," the chairman exclaimed. The witness was suggesting that someone would journey over from Carrickmines to his home in Castleknock to discuss land at Carrickmines.
Mr Redmond said he was very active and played a lot of games, so it might have happened there.
"So you're saying someone handed you the document while you were playing some sport," Judge Mahon remarked.
According to Mr Redmond, he first met Mr Kennedy in 1980, at a housewarming party in Howth. Mr Kennedy showed him a site that was for sale in the Strawberry Beds, but he didn't buy it.
Not long after this, Mr Redmond said he offered to advance a loan to Mr Kennedy and another man when they were setting up an amusement arcade.
Mr Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, pointed out that the amount involved, £110,000, was a substantial amount for the time, equivalent to nine times his salary. Although a legal agreement was drawn up, it was never executed. Counsel said these were indications of the level of trust and friendship that Mr Redmond extended to Mr Kennedy.
Mr Redmond explained that he'd never seen gaming before. He was highly impressed and made visits to other arcades around the city. There was an "extraordinary atmosphere" in these places, where people were "shoving" money into the machines. He "almost got hooked" on them. Asked if it wasn't extraordinary for him to hand over such money without any legal protection, he replied: "I must have been out of my mind that I did it."
However, he trusted both men and it seemed to him to be "a very attractive investment".
Initially, Mr Redmond said, he would meet Mr Kennedy at weekends and pick up repayments in cash. However, the legal situation changed, gaming was made illegal, and he found it harder to get money.
Mr O'Neill pointed out that Mr Kennedy enjoyed a huge success at this time with Ballyowen Stud in Lucan, which he bought with Mr Charles Duffy in 1981 for £1.2 million and sold two years later for £3.5 million.
Mr Redmond said he had nothing to do with this deal. Mr Kennedy had spoken to him about it, but had said "it had all gone wrong". He estimated the amount he was repaid at £40,000.
Judge Mahon pointed out that Mr Redmond's loan was "a fortune", worth about €1 million in today's money.
Yet he hadn't made any big effort to get it back.
Mr Redmond said he had made some efforts but he had been "a foolish man".
