Father and son admit that they knew sterling notes came from bank robbery

A father and son admitted under interrogation that they knew that millions of sterling notes in their possession came from the 2004 Northern Bank robbery, the prosecution claimed today as the men went on trial where they denied all the money laundering charges against them.

Timothy (Ted) Cunningham (aged 60) of Woodbine Lodge, Farran, Co Cork, pleaded not guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to a total of 20 charges of money laundering arising out of the robbery of £26.5m (€28.6m) from the Northern Bank in Belfast on December 20, 2004. His son, Timothy John Cunningham, 33, Church View, Farran, County Cork, denied four similar charges.

Prosecution senior counsel, Tom O’Connell, told the jury that Ted Cunningham gave Ballincollig car dealer, Dan Joe Guerin, some of the sterling in payment of a debt but later told him on February 3 or 4 2004: “I am f***ed if you are caught with that.”

Mr Guerin then took £90,000 (€97,250) given to him by Cunningham and put it in two fertilizer bags and brought it to his stables in Rathmore, County Kerry. Mr Guerin who will be called as a prosecution witness later took gardaí to the stables to recover the money.

Mr O’Connell SC said that gardaí went to search of Ted Cunningham’s house on February 16, 2004. Cunningham was not present but the gardaí phoned him and he arrived at 4am. On the way down to the basement of the house in Farran, Cunningham, said there were personal items there. Inspector Declan O’Sullivan asked him what kind and he replied: “A couple of million sterling.”

Cunningham said he couldn’t remember the number of the combination lock on a cupboard which he forced open. It contained six hold-all bags of sterling. According to Mr O’Connell’s opening outline of the prosecution allegations, Cunningham said it was not from the Northern Bank robbery. Asked why he would say that, he replied because it was on the television all the time.

He was arrested on suspicion of being a member of an unlawful organisation. Mr O’Connell said that because of the logistics and planning that went into the Northern Bank robbery – where a member of staff was kidnapped and threatened - it was believed that it had to have been organised by a paramilitary organisation.

During Garda interrogation the senior counsel said Ted Cunningham claimed that two Bulgarians were buying a gravel pit from him in County Offaly and that the deal was a €2m sale price and €3m under the table.

“But he changed his story that the money had come from unnamed Bulgarians for the purchase of a pit in County Offaly. He conceded that he knew the money came from the Northern Bank robbery in December 2004. His son made similar admissions… In the course of these interrogations it turned out Ted Cunningham got the cash in four tranches,” Mr O’Donnell said.

He said Ted Cunningham picked up £1.2m (€1.29m) at the Clonmore Hotel in County Offaly on January 18 2005 from a man in a Northern car, three days later he picked up £1.3m (€1.4m) at the Ardboyne hotel in Navan, £1m (€1.08m) at the Tullybeg nursing home in County Offaly on January 27 and £1.5m (€1.62m) at the same place on February 9.

Ted Cunnigham operated an unregulated money lending company called Chesterton Finance whereby he took large cash deposits at 10% and lent them out at 25% to people who could not get loans elsewhere, Mr O’Donnell said, adding, “He was in an ideal position to launder amounts of money.”

Former chairman of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Phil Flynn was a director of Chesterton Finance, Mr O’Donnell SC told the jury, adding that Mr Flynn was one of a number of people on a business trip to Bulgaria with Ted Cunningham in January 2005.