There’s ‘not one shred of truth’ in a conman’s claims of collusion between a developer and government ministers, the Chief Minister insists.
Allan Bell spoke out after convicted fraudster Charles ‘Buster’ Lewin was allowed out of jail to give evidence before a Tynwald inquiry into the Kirk Michael landswap saga.
Mr Lewin’s central allegation was that his former employer Heritage Homes carried out a bluff to clinch a landswap deal with the Department of Education and Children which it needed to secure its preferred access to a proposed major housing development.
He accused the then treasury minister, now Chief Minister, Allan Bell and the then education minister, now Treasury Minister Eddie Teare, of collusion in the bluffy – and spoke of regular two-hour telephone calls between ‘AB’ and Dandara chairman Dan Tynan.
The witness told the committee: ‘I have seen it first hand. I am sure the telephone logs will clearly record two-hour telephone calls going between the Treasury Minister’s phone and Dan Tynan’s personal number.’
The Chief Minister said he had been ‘astonished’ to hear of Mr Lewin’s allegations which he described as ‘nonsense presented as fact’.
He said: ‘I’ve never had these telephone calls with Dan Tynan. There is not one shred of truth in this.
‘There was absolutely no collusion between the developer, the department, ministers or myself. It was a very straightforward deal.’
He said he had no idea what had gone on behind the scenes in terms of the developer’s involvement in the site.
Under the land swap deal, the DEC was to have conveyed part of Michael School’s corner field to afford access to the new housing development and in return received a couple of acres of land to the rear of the school site.
Heritage Homes said it had secured alternative access via Lhergy Vreck, prompting the then Education Minister to tell Tynwald it was a done deal and his department might as well take advantage and agree the land exchange.
Mr Lewin claimed, however, the developer knew Lhergy Vreck was not an option as there were issues over traffic safety and access rights.
In the event, however, the landswap never happened as Heritage Homes’ planning application for 95 homes was thrown out by the Council of Ministers following an inspector’s recommendation.
