It has been an eventful twelfth fortnight for Northern Ireland for reasons other than marches and riots. Allegations over a Nama loan book sale and a £7m payment into an offshore bank account by a Belfast lawyer have threatened to tip Northern politics into chaos. The Irish Newsposes the key questions that remain unanswered by the individuals, companies and institutions at the heart this saga - not least who were the intended beneficiaries of the £7m?
Ian Coulter
1) Were there any other intended recipients of the £7m? If so who were they?
2) Why was an account in the Isle of Man chosen?
3) Why were you present at the meeting with Peter Robinson and Dan Quayle and Cerberus on March 25, 2014?
4) Who where the "other business people in Northern Ireland" that you refer to as having developed and put in significant work leading up to the Nama deal?
5) Why was the decision made by you to transfer the money back to Tughans in December?
Frank Cushnahan
1) Were you involved in any way in the Cerberus deal via any third parties, either paid or unpaid?
2) Have you discussed Cerberus or Pimco with any politician since January 2013?
3) Did you have any dealings with Pimco or Cerberus in any capacity before November 2013?
4) What clients have you referred to Tughans since January 2013? What clients have Tughans referred to you since January 2013?
5) Were you involved in any capacity with any Nama debtors?
Tughans
1) Tughans said it "strongly disagrees" with Coulter's version of events surrounding the "treatment, discovery and retrieval of the professional fees". Can you clarify what you disagree with?
2) How did the £7m, diverted into an Isle of Man account by Mr Coulter, first come to your attention and on what date? Who brought it to your attention?
3) Is there any evidence that Mr Coulter was the sole beneficiary of the account? Was anyone else apart from Mr Coulter named on the account in the Isle of Man?
4) Why did Tughans not report the incident to the police at the same time it reported it to the Law Society?
5) What fee was Tughans expecting to receive for the firm's work on the Project Eagle purchase?
6) What services did Tughans' provide? How many lawyers worked on the transaction for Tughans?
7) Was there a fee note for the amount that was diverted into the Isle of Man Bank account?
8) We understand that approximately £300,000 was attributable to legal fees for Tughans work. Is that figure accurate?
9) When did Frank Cushnahan first take up an office in same building as Tughans?
DUP
1) Why did the DUP not disclose to the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness the meeting with Cerberus and Ian Coulter on March 25, 2014?
2) Can the DUP detail any meeting/contact - official or not - with Dan Quayle and/or any other employee of Cerberus?
3) Who suggested the concept of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the potential Project Eagle purchaser to the First Minister?
4) Did the First Minister negotiate a letter of intent/ Memorandum of Understanding or equivalent with Cerberus? If so what was the deal?
Cerberus
1) What was the strategic advice given to Cerbeus by Brown Rudnick and Tughans?
2) How much did Cerberus pay Linklaters and A&L Goodbody for legal advice?
Nama
1) Why did Nama not engage on the suggested MoU sent by the First Minister?
2) Frank Daly, chairman of Nama, has said that Nama held meetings in Tughans' offices twice. Once in September 2013. Can Nama provide exact dates for both meetings, what was discussed and who attended?
Law Society
1) Where you conducting a spot audit at Tughans when you were alerted to the £7m?
2) Through your investigations can you reveal what work was the £7 million for and to whom it was intended? Have you interviewed Brown Rudnick and Ian Coulter?
3) Who were to be the direct or potentially indirect beneficiaries of the fees transferred to the account controlled by Mr Coulter?
4) How much of the £7.5 million was transferred to the Isle of Man and how much was kept in the Tughans' account?
5) Have you seen a fee note from Tughans accounting for £7m worth of work?
6) When does the Law Society expect to conclude its investigation?
7) Will the Law Society findings be made public?
Pimco
1) What work was the £15m to Brown Rudnick, Ian Coulter and Frank Cushnahan for exactly?
2) Did Frank Cushnahan and/or Ian Coulter introduce you to Peter Robinson and/or any other Northern Irish or Irish politician(s)?
