Desmond sold the company to Ulster Bank in 1994, which at the time was part of the National Westminster Group, for a reported £39 million.
Subsequently, as a result of Natwest's takeover in 2003 by RBS, NCB was bought out by its management with the support of former billionaire businessman Sean Quinn who was believed at that time to control 25% of the company.
[3] He was appointed chairman of the board of Aer Rianta in 1990 under the Charles Haughey government, but resigned in October 1991 amid the scandal over the purchase of the Johnston Mooney & O'Brien site by Telecom Éireann.
[citation needed] In 1997, together with business partners John Magnier and J.P. McManus, Desmond purchased the five-star Barbados resort Sandy Lane Hotel.
The investment was considered a large risk as London's Docklands was in recession and the neighbouring Canary Wharf development was in receivership.
Desmond sold London City Airport in October 2006 for a reported £750 million to a consortium consisting of insurer AIG, GE Capital and Credit Suisse.
[8] In November 2021, Desmond bought BETDAQ back from the Entain group (owner of Ladbrokes Coral) for an "undisclosed sum".
[12] On 19 September 2018, it was announced that Desmond had increased his stake in Toronto mining company Mountain Province Diamonds to 28% which is valued at a[13] current market price of approximately $158 million.
In September 2018, he secured planning permission to construct a 17,168 sq ft. palatial mansion on Shrewsbury Road in the D4 postal district of Dublin.
[14] In 1991, a company law inspector, solicitor John Glackin, was appointed by the then Government to investigate complicated dealings involving Mr Desmond and the purchase and sale of the former Johnston Mooney and O'Brien site in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
[15] According to the Glackin Report, Hoddle Investments (the vehicle through which the deal was handled) executed two contracts with Telecom Éireann for the sale of the Johnston Mooney & O'Brien site for an aggregate price of £9.4 million, on 7 May 1990.
[18] Aurum Nominees Limited was a company established by NCB for the benefit of its clients, and used at the time by several of the beneficiaries to the deal, including JP McManus, Lochlann Quinn and Martin Naughton.
[18] £25,000 was paid via Desmonds's Bottin International Investments Limited which had an account with Anglo Irish Bank, 69 Athol Street, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Desmond again claimed this payment was a loan, but the Tribunal disagreed, noting again that Haughey had settled with the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the sum, having failed to pay Capital Gains Tax at the time.
[18] Haughey's son Conor told the Tribunal in 1999 that he had learned money to refurbish the yacht had come from the bank account of Freezone Limited.
[25] The yacht was subsequently given to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group by the family of Haughey and now operates as a maritime research vessel[26] Desmond was an investor in Esat Digifone through his International Investment Underwriters (IIU) vehicle, ultimately owning 20% of the company.