Banker admits it was irregular to pay out cash on cheques

RETIRED senior banker John Aherne was reminded at the Mahon Tribunal yesterday he could have facilitated criminal activity and money-laundering in the early 1990s by handing out vast amounts of cash.

Mr Aherne had admitted cashing a number of third-party cheques — each to the value of several thousands pounds — when former lobbyist Frank Dunlop called to AIB Bank’s College Street, Dublin, branch.

Answering tribunal lawyer Patricia Dillon SC, he said: “That may strike you but it did not strike me. He [Dunlop] came highly recommended... It never struck me to think along the lines you suggest.”