AN ENGLISH solicitor who acted in property transactions involving former minister Michael Lowry has acknowledged there were inaccuracies in letters concerning the purchase of a church in England.
Christopher Vaughan said he gave the bankers who funded the purchase of the church in Cheadle, Staffordshire, a "shorthand" version of the transaction history.
On the third day of his evidence at the Moriarty tribunal, Mr Vaughan explained his role acting on behalf of Catclause Ltd, which was an off-the-peg company whose directors were Mr Lowry and his daughter, Lorraine.
Mr Lowry and a business associate who brought the property to his attention, Kevin Phelan, aimed to "flip" it by selling it on quickly at a profit but this never happened, the tribunal has heard.
Accountant Aidan Phelan (no relation) sourced the money for the purchase, which was to cost £445,000, from GE Capital Woodchester Bank, which contacted Mr Vaughan later about the identity of the purchaser. Mr Vaughan is being questioned as part of inquiries into whether businessman Denis O'Brien gave financial support to Mr Lowry, a former minister for energy, transport and communications.
Mr Vaughan said he would have told the bank that Catclause was a vehicle for Mr Lowry although he was not privy to anything happening behind the scenes.
He said the circumstances surrounding the completion of the deal were very unsatisfactory. He did not receive paperwork from the bank and he faced a dilemma over Christmas that year.
After discussions with his wife, they agreed that the best way to protect everyone's interest was to take over the property on trust. "I proceeded with what I thought was the best course," he told Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal.
His attitude was that the various parties would then sort things out and he could then finalise the deal.
Mr Healy referred to a letter in which Mr Vaughan told a banker in 2001 that he had taken the property in trust after it had been decided that Catclause was an inappropriate vehicle to acquire it. Mr Vaughan said this was not quite right. It was "a bit shorthand" and he was just trying to describe how the church came into the hands of himself and his wife.
Mr Healy said there was an inconsistency between his statement, in which he said there was never any doubt that Mr Lowry had an interest in the property, and another letter to the bankers, which asserted that Mr Lowry had relinquished ownership by 2000.
Mr Vaughan said he did not see a difference. Ownership did not mean an interest in the proceeds of the sale. He also said a reference to Mr Lowry as the owner of the property in a letter he sent to Kevin Phelan was a mistake.
By then, he was satisfied that Aidan Phelan was the owner and the reference to "Michael" in the letter was "rubbish".
