Cunningham denies money-laundering charges

The 65-year-old Corkman who denies money-laundering some of the proceeds of the December 2004 Northern Bank robbery was described yesterday as carrying £175,000 in £20 sterling notes into a property developer’s office as security for a loan the following February.

John Sheehan, who owned Cúl na Gréine House in Ballincollig, Co Cork, where he and Timothy (Ted) Cunningham had offices, gave this evidence at the money-laundering trial.

Mr Sheehan said he got a call on February 5, 2005 asking him if he would lend Mr Cunningham €200,000 for a period of six to eight weeks.

“My response was: ‘I can’t do it; you can’t give me security.’ He told me he could give me sterling,” Mr Sheehan told the court. “I said: ‘Why don’t you put the sterling in the bank?’ I didn’t really want to give him money. He said he needed sterling to pay for a conservatory he was buying in Northern Ireland. I said: ‘If you give me sterling I will loan it [€200,000] to you.’

“On February 7, Ted arrived in my office. He carried two plastic bags. As far as I remember, two Blarney Woollen Mills hold-all plastic bags. He said: ‘I have the £175,000.’ There was British sterling made up in various bundles. I looked through it to make sure it was not paper, but I didn’t count it. I put it in a walk-in safe. I was the only one with the key. He asked for three separate cheques, €100,000, €44,000, and €56,000, all made payable to himself.”

Then on February 17, 2005 he heard news that Ted Cunningham was being investigated. “I called the gardaí and told them I had dealings with Ted Cunningham,” said Mr Sheehan. “Two gardaí came out. They went to the safe. Gardaí counted it. It totalled £175,000. Gardaí gave me a receipt and took it away.”

Cross-examined by Hugh Hartnett, Mr Sheehan said it was fair comment that he (Mr Sheehan) was flush with money at the time.

Mr Sheehan said Mr Cunningham also appeared to be doing well, as he was driving a new Mercedes and his partner was driving a new BMW.

Timothy Cunningham, aged 65, of Woodbine Lodge, Farran, Co Cork, denies nine charges of money-laundering.

Detective Superintendent John Gilligan testified yesterday that the vast media coverage of the Northern Bank robbery was driven by the amount of sterling stolen and the potential political implications of the raid.

The trial before a jury of seven men and five women and Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin will continue on Monday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.