THE Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has begun an investigation into the source of Liam Lawlor's wealth, The Sunday Tribune has learned. Lawlor is the first political figure to come under scrutiny by CAB which has the power to seize illegally acquired assets.

Senior CAB officers attended the planning tribunal during the week after the disclosure that Lawlor was involved in money laundering.

The tribunal heard how a money laundering investigation by Ulster Bank led to the tribunal discovering the existence of Lawlor's offshore bank account in Liechtenstein.

Tribunal lawyers revealed that the operation came to light when Ulster Bank spotted a fake transaction organised by Lawlor which involved a £50,000 foreign lodgement to the account of a local taxi driver.

Tribunal lawyers also expressed their belief that Lawlor holds millions of euro in offshore accounts.

Following the revelations, the head of CAB, chief superintendent Felix McKenna, sent some of his officers to the tribunal to begin collecting evidence for an investigation into the former Fianna Fáil TD's wealth.

CAB, which last year seized assets worth more than 30m, conducted a successful operation against another key planning tribunal witness, former assistant Dublin city manager, George Redmond.

He was detained at Dublin airport on his return from the Isle of Man with a suitcase containing over 150,000.

CAB would have difficulty seizing any funds held by Lawlor in offshore accounts, but he still owns a valuable property on almost 20 acres of land at Somerton House near Lucan.

This property is believed to be worth between 15m and 20m.

The planning tribunal and Lawlor's own lawyers have already sought to recoup fees from Lawlor by seeking judgements against Somerton. Justice Feargus Flood initiated three separate sets of proceedings to recover money from the property beginning back in October 2000.

The tribunal case to force the sale of land at Somerton to realise 430,000 owed to it in legal fees came before the Master of the High Court last Friday.

A decision was adjourned until October. The taxing master has already made a judgement against Lawlor for 630,000 in an action taken against him for non-payment of fees by his own lawyers.

The former TD claims he has no money to pay his various debts but the tribunal does not believe him. The Revenue Commissioners are also interested in Lawlor. Tax officials were among the throng who attended the hearings in Dublin Castle last week to listen to the latest revelations.

Lawlor has done three stints in jail for failing to cooperate with the tribunal and is likely to face another term as the tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon has accused him of telling lies in the course of his evidence.

The CAB investigation is the most serious threat to Lawlor's future at this stage. The bureau had its most successful year in 2002, seizing more assets than it had done in the previous five years of its existence.

CAB was established as one of the central planks of the drive to crack down on organised crime in the wake of Veronica Guerin's murder. Ironically, Lawlor, as a TD at the time, voted in the Dáil in favour of establishing the bureau.

Lawlor's associates, solicitor John Caldwell and gaming arcade owner, Jim Kennedy, have fled the country since the planning tribunal began its investigations and while there has been repeated speculation that Lawlor would do the same, he has stood his ground to date.