Seen here in this April 2006 file photo are (from left) Digicel T&T CEO Stephen Brewer, chairman and founder of Digicel Group, Denis O'Brien, and Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves, at Digicel's Trinidad launch. - File

Irish telecommunications tycoon and owner of Digicel Group, Denis O'Brien, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in a bid to stop a government-authorised investigation into his financial affairs, he said Tuesday.

O'Brien, 49, who built his fortune by winning Ireland's first competitively awarded mobile-phone licence, told Justice Michael Moriarty he considered his 9.5 year-old investigation to be "grossly unfair" and illegally reliant on "hearsay, rumour and anonymous letters."

Forced to resign

Moriarty was appointed by the government in 1997 to investigate payments to former Prime Minister Charles Haughey and former Communications Minister Michael Lowry, who awarded an O'Brien-led consortium the mobile phone licence in 1995.

O'Brien, who made the bid in alliance with Norwegian telecom-munications company Telenor, netted more than €300 million (US$400 million) when he encouraged British Telecoms PLC to acquire his company, Esat Digifone, in 2000.

Lowry was forced to resign his Cabinet post in 1996 after he was exposed as having received a free extension to his country mansion from Dunnes Stores, Ireland's largest supermarket chain.

He continues to represent his North Tipperary district in parliament, having won re-election three times since the scandal broke.

Moriarty's current investigation concerns allegations that Lowry favoured O'Brien's bid and may have helped O'Brien to buy a British soccer club, Doncaster Rovers.

O'Brien rejected both allegations in his testimony Tuesday and said he had filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, in a bid to stop the probe's intrusion into his financial affairs. He said defending himself from unsubstantiated accusations had already cost him €9 million (US$12 million) in legal fees.

O'Brien has not been accused of receiving any favours from Haughey, who led governments from 1979 to 1992 and died last year. He moved to Portugal to avoid paying capital-gains tax on his profits from the Esat Digifone sale, and later moved to Malta to maintain his tax-exile status, an act heavily criticised in Ireland. He currently is owner of Caribbean mobile company Digicel, which has operations in 22 markets.

According to the annual 'rich list' compiled by The Sunday Times newspaper of London, O'Brien is Ireland's fourth-richest person with a net worth exceeding €2.26 billion (US$3.05 billion).