Flynn: Bulgaria visit was legitimate business trip

GOVERNMENT troubleshooter Phil Flynn and the moneylender who was arrested last week in possession of £2.3 million in suspected IRA cash, met with a senior official from the Bulgarian Department of Finance during a recent business trip to Sofia.

Mr Flynn and Ted Cunningham both directors of Chesterton Finance which is being investigated as a suspected vehicle for IRA money laundering also held meetings some two weeks ago with a senior banking official in Sofia, the Irish Examiner has learned.

As the investigation into money laundering focuses on possible links between the IRA and a Bulgarian crime syndicate, Mr Flynn, a former chairman of Bank of Scotland (Ireland), last night categorically denied the meetings were in any way connected to crime.