Bank listed wrong bills as stolen

THOUSANDS of notes the Northern Bank initially reported as stolen in the pre-Christmas Belfast bank heist were not swiped in the raid, it has emerged.

In an embarrassing twist following the €30m raid on the cash headquarters of the bank, Northern Bank wrongly included serial numbers of a batch of 50,000 £20 notes in a list submitted to the police and later made public.

Two notes thought to have been stolen in the robbery were discovered at Dundonald Ice Bowl in east Belfast during a check last Thursday.

Amid much excitement and international coverage over the weekend, it was thought these were the first to surface following the December 20 heist. The two £20 notes were handed over to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

On examination, the notes were found to be legitimately held and were returned to the centre. A PSNI spokesperson would not confirm this, saying investigators could not comment on every report of a suspected note being passed. “There have been many reports and we could not possibly comment on every one,” said a spokesperson.

However, Dundonald Ice Bowl said the money was handed back and that management was told they were not stolen in the robbery.

The PSNI did confirm a batch of 50,000 notes with serial numbers from CD0500001 to CD0550000, originally thought to have been stolen, are all in legitimate circulation. It is understood the two notes found in Dundonald had serial numbers within the above range.

The numbers were included in a list published a number of days after the robbery. The numbers covered £12m of the £22m stolen by the gang.

Northern Bank cautioned at the time only around two thirds of the notes within each of the ranges were among those stolen in the largest cash-only bank heist in history.

A revised list of numbers has now been submitted to investigators. There is some disquiet within the force that time has been wasted following up leads based on the publication of a range of numbers of legitimate notes.

The Northern Bank, unavailable for comment yesterday, is still considering withdrawing all its £10 and £20 notes from circulation.

Police are continuing to investigate the robbery and have carried out a series of raids on premises in west Belfast.

Despite denials from the IRA, it is believed the organisation, or at very least some senior members, were involved.

Two bank employees were targeted and their families held hostage during an operation spanning nearly 24 hours.