NAMA scandal: Still no PSNI investigation
Five days after the emergence of the most serious allegations of large-scale corruption in recent memory, the PSNI has still not opened a criminal investigation.
The TUV leader Jim Allister said that, after days of continued revelations about the irregular nature of the sale of NAMA’s – the Republic’s ‘bad bank’ – Northern Ireland assets to the US fund Cerberus, the affair was “crying out” for a thorough investigation to establish if any laws had been broken.
It was alleged in the Dail last Thursday that £7 million allegedly diverted from Belfast law firm Tughans to an offshore bank account was earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician, while the BBC has alleged that the money was to pay “fixers and influencers” involved in the massive property deal.
The Law Society is investigating the issue, but neither it nor Tughans – which has blamed a former employee for the irregularity – have reported the matter to the police.
A PSNI spokeswoman said on Monday night that the force had still not launched a criminal investigation into the allegations, and highlighted that there had not been a formal complaint to police.
However, where police have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed they can themselves instigate an investigation.
It was on that basis that five years ago the PSNI launched a criminal investigation into Peter and Iris Robinson. The investigation ultimately did not lead to any charges against either of the Robinsons.
Mr Allister, who has been asking questions for some time about the massive £1.4 billion Cerberus-NAMA property deal, said that he believed the issue was “crying out for investigation” by the police.
The QC said: “In circumstances where there has been apparently a transfer of a very large amount of money to a secret bank account in the Isle of Man, given the money laundering regulations and the Solicitors Order, I’m very surprised that neither Tughans nor the Law Society have seen fit to refer the matter to the police.”
And Ukip MLA David McNarry said: “The PSNI now have a clear line of investigation into the fixers’ payment put into an Isle of Man bank account. I suggest that they pursue vigorously such a line of inquiry.”
On Tuesday morning the Assembly’s finance committee will hold an emergency meeting to discuss starting its own inquiry into the allegations.
But there will only be MLAs at the Stormont hearing – no representatives of Tughans, NAMA or Cerberus will be giving evidence.
Nor will two figures who have quickly emerged as central to the affair – former Tughans managing partner Ian Coulter and Frank Cushnahan, a former member of NAMA’s Northern Ireland advisory committee – give evidence on Tuesday.
While numerous statements from Tughans, Cerberus and NAMA have shed some light on the arrangements behind the massive deal, Mr Cushnahan and Mr Coulter have said virtually nothing, other than to deny wrongdoing.
