A FINANCIAL adviser has been charged with 10 counts of money laundering, while a second man has been charged with possession of ammunition following an investigation by the Garda into the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in 2004.
Timothy Cunningham (59), of Woodbine Lodge, Farran, Co Cork, was brought before a special sitting of Cork District Court yesterday where he was charged with 10 offences of money laundering between December 20th, 2004 and February 24th, 2005.
Det Sgt Mary King gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that Mr Cunningham - who is also known as Ted Cunningham - made no reply to any of the charges when they were put to him after caution.
Barry Galvin of the State Solicitor's Office said that the State had no objection to bail for Mr Cunningham once certain conditions were met, and he gave an outline of the alleged facts to support his application for substantial sureties.
Mr Galvin said that Mr Cunningham faces 10 charges of money laundering with one charge alleging that he was involved in the money laundering of £3.01 million, while the sums in the other charges totalled some £605,000.
Mr Galvin said the State alleges that some £2.4 million of the £3.01 million at the heart of the main money laundering charge was seized when Mr Cunningham was arrested, while a further £605,000 was also seized, leaving some £600,000 that has not been recovered. He said that the State was not objecting to bail for Mr Cunningham, but he was seeking substantial sureties and he asked that Mr Cunningham be remanded on his own bail of €200,000 and an independent surety of €200,000.
Mr Cunningham's counsel, Alan Toal BL, said that Mr Cunningham's wife, Cathy Armstrong, was willing to lodge the deeds of their €1.5 million home in court to meet the independent surety requirement and Ms Armstrong took the stand to give such an undertaking.
Mr Galvin said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed that the matter be dealt with on indictment, but he had not directed that it be dealt with at the Special Criminal Court, and he would be seeking to have it heard at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge David Riordan granted Mr Galvin's application and remanded Mr Cunningham on his own bail of €200,000 and an independent surety of €200,000 to appear again at Cork District Court on March 26th.
The judge also ordered Mr Cunningham to surrender his passport, not to apply for another one and not to leave the jurisdiction without the permission of the court. He also ordered him to sign on three times a week at the Bridewell Garda station in Cork.
Meanwhile, an Englishman, Don Blayney (48), with an address at Cnoc Abhainn, Old Church Road, Passage West, Co Cork, was also brought before the same court sitting as a result of the same Garda investigation and charged with a firearms offence.
Mr Blayney was charged with possessing 220 live rounds of 7.62mm x 39mm ammunition at his home on February 18th, 2005 in such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable inference that he did not have them in his possession for a lawful purpose.
The court was told that Mr Blayney replied: "I am definitely not guilty" when charged after caution and Mr Galvin said that the case would not be heard at the Special Criminal Court, though it had still to be decided whether it would heard at Circuit or District Court level. The State did not object to bail and Mr Blayney was remanded on his own bail of €10,000 and an independent surety of €5,000 to appear in court again on March 26th. Mr Blayney was also ordered to surrender his passport and to sign on twice weekly at Togher Garda station.