Bank heist money laundering trial jury to retire

The jury in the trial of a financial adviser accused of laundering money from the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery will retire to consider its verdict today.

State prosecutors claim Timothy “Ted” Cunningham knew that more than £3m traced to him was from the infamous December 2004 heist.

The 60-year-old, of Farran, Co Cork, denies 20 offences linked to the dirty money racket which moved cash from Belfast to Cork.

The financier maintained that £2.3m sterling discovered in a locked cupboard in the basement of his home on February 16, 2005 came from the cash sale of a gravel pit in Co Offaly to Bulgarian businessmen.

Gardaí claimed that, under interrogation, the money lender said he was given £4.9m from an unidentified male in a northern-registered car whom he met on four separate occasions.

It is alleged that, when the final delivery of £1.5m arrived in new uncirculated Northern Bank notes, Cunningham panicked and gave the cash to an unnamed associate in Passage West, Co Cork.

The remaining £1m shortfall was traced back to friends and clients to whom Cunningham owed money, they said.

Cunningham ran an unregulated money lending service, Chesterton Finance, which charged cash poor but asset rich clients up to 25% interest on loans. It also offered investors 10% interest.

During his 43-day trial he insisted the cash came from contacts in Bulgaria, where he travelled with business partner Phil Flynn, once one of Ireland’s top industrial relations trouble-shooters and then-chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Ireland.

Throughout the trial, Judge Cornelius Murphy read Cunningham’s interview notes to the jury, in which he denied any involvement with the IRA or laundering money from the heist.

“There will be another hour or two of my summary and then after that at some stage you will retire to consider the evidence,” said Judge Murphy.

He warned the five men and seven women to bring an overnight bag “just in case”.

The £26.5m was stolen in the notorious bank robbery by a gang who kidnapped assistant manager Kevin McMullan and his wife Kyran, taking her to an undisclosed location while he was forced to steal the money.

The haul included £17.5m of uncirculated Northern Bank currency, which could be traced through serial numbers, and £8.85m in used notes from the four major banks in the North.