Beef baron Larry Goodman "paid the price" in bad publicity and unpaid debts for doing Liam Lawlor a generous favour, the politician has told the tribunal.
Mr Lawlor described as an "absolute scandal" what had happened to Mr Goodman as a result of his involvement in the purchase of land at Coolamber in west Dublin.
He said Mr Goodman wanted to go near the land "like a hole in the head" but agreed to do him a favour by lending the money to buy it in 1987.
However, this involvement left him with adverse publicity and a £157,000 debt.
"It wasn't his deal; it wasn't his company," Mr Lawlor said. Along with the finance director of Goodman International, Brian Britton, he had failed to keep the solicitor in the transaction, John Caldwell, "corralled on a lead" to ensure he "behaved".
Mr Lawlor accused Mr Caldwell of "breaking trust" and failing to act honourably in his work on the land.
Mr Caldwell had not honoured a clause in a loan agreement used to finance the purchase, which stipulated that only Mr Goodman could issue instructions.
As a result, he said, the company owning the land ended up 100 per cent under Mr Caldwell's control, and the property was later sold off without any recourse to Mr Goodman.
Earlier, questioned about Mr Caldwell's evidence, Mr Lawlor claimed that his former associate's evidence was "dodgy to say the least".
He described a series of correspondence generated by Mr Caldwell as "disgusting stuff" composed of "John Caldwell writing back and forth to himself".
Mr Lawlor also warned he would challenge any finding by the tribunal that he owned the Coolamber land.
Mr Lawlor, who insists he never owned the land, said the High Court would have to decide any such finding.
Des O'Neill SC, for the tribunal, pointed out that Mr Britton's 1987 notes appeared to show that Mr Lawlor was to be the beneficial owner of the land through an offshore structure.
However, Mr Lawlor said the notes were not accurate. He wasn't "embroiled" in the detail of how the land would be owned, whether through an Isle of Man company or not.
"I hope you can prove what you are hoping to prove," he told Mr O'Neill, "that I had ownership, because then it will go to the High Court to adjudicate at some stage".
Judge Alan Mahon said Mr Lawlor was saying he had organised the finance from Mr Goodman to buy the land and didn't have a share but he was expecting to get a share of any future profits. It followed that he had an interest in the property.
Mr Lawlor replied that he had created an opportunity, but other parties had total control of the venture.
He rejected an assertion by Judge Mahon that he was effectively a sleeping partner.
