Mr Denis O'Brien telephoned a Telenor manager in Norway twice concerning invoices relating to a $50,000 payment to Fine Gael in 1996, the Moriarty Tribunal was told yesterday.
In evidence earlier this year, Mr O'Brien had said he knew nothing about the invoices sent to Telenor by the late Mr David Austin seeking $50,000 for consultancy work which were to cover the political payment. The $50,000 was recouped by Telenor from ESAT Digifone.
Yesterday, Mr Per Simonsen, from Telenor, who was the project manager of the ESAT Digifone project in 1995/96, told the tribunal that the then chief executive officer, Mr Knut Digerud, had handed him a letter and invoice for $50,000 from Mr Austin. He understood it was for a fund-raising event but did not know it was political.
Mr Simonsen said he then received a telephone call from Mr O'Brien just before Christmas 1995, asking him to ensure Mr Austin's name did not appear on the documents.
"He was concerned at how the invoice would look. He was not too specific. He was concerned about the invoice that would end up in ESAT Digital," Mr Simonsen said. "To me, it seemed like he knew about the content."
The invoice had been faxed to Dublin on January 3rd, 1996. Mr Simonsen said he rang the Dublin office and requested the invoice be shredded. A new invoice was faxed which had Mr Austin's name removed.
Mr Simonsen said he received a second telephone call from Mr O'Brien who said he did not want the money in US dollars but in punts. He asked that the invoice be delayed for six to eight weeks.
Asked when he first became aware the money was for a political donation, he replied that he thought it was in 1997.