Trial hears details of sterling discovery
The jury in the trial of a Cork father and son accused of laundering over £3m (€3.17m) from Belfast’s Northern Bank robbery of December 2004 was told today how gardaí found several bags bulging with Northern sterling in the home of one of the accused.
Timothy (Ted) Cunningham (aged 60) of Woodbine Lodge, Farran, Co Cork, denies a total of 20 charges of money laundering arising out of the robbery of £26.5m (€28m) from the Northern Bank in Belfast on December 20, 2004.
His son, Timothy John Cunningham, (aged 33), Church View, Farran, Co Cork, denies four similar charges. Both men are on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where it is alleged that they laundered over £3m (€3.17m).
The court heard that Insp. Declan O’Sullivan and a search team arrived at the home of Ted Cunningham shortly before midnight on February 16, 2005 and showed the defendant’s partner a search warrant. Cunningham was in Dublin at the time and his partner phoned him. He drove down and arrived by 4am.
Sergeant Seán McCarthy saw a cupboard in the basement locked with a padlock. Insp. O’Sullivan said Cunningham told him there were personal items in the cupboard. The inspector asked, “What kind of personal items?” He replied, “Money.” Asked how much, the accused replied, “A couple of million sterling.”
“I asked him to open the lock," Insp. O’Sullivan said. "He could not remember the combination at that stage. He suggested he would break open the door. It was only a chipboard cupboard. I could see immediately five or six hold-all bags of various colours. I could see they were bulging with Northern sterling.
“There was a moment of shocked silence from everyone in the room, we were all kind of looking at each other. Mr Cunningham said, 'That money is not from the Northern Bank robbery.'
"I asked him 'why would we think that?'."
The inspector confirmed for the jury that hold-all bags and a brown plastic bag displayed in court were the ones which were full of money at the time. In court the bags were empty.
Samples of bundles of cash were put on the lawyer’s table in front of the jury. Prosecution senior counsel, Marjorie Farrelly, said that if all the cash that was found was put on the table it would cover it.
Insp. O’Sullivan some of the bags contained a piece of wood with a figure written on it.
The trial continues.
