The former chairman of the Bank of Scotland Phil Flynn will not be included in the Garda file into the alleged laundering of the proceeds of the Northern Bank raid when the file is sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) this week, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Flynn was a director of Chesterton Finance, the company which found itself at the centre of the Garda investigation into the discovery in Cork last February of some of the proceeds of the £26.5 million from the Northern Bank raid. Last February gardaí seized £2.3 million at a house in Farran, Co Cork, owned by Ted Cunningham, the principal and co-director of Chesterton Finance.
The alleged linking of Mr Flynn, confidante of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and a former president of Ictu, to IRA money-laundering caused a sensation when the details emerged 12 months ago. Mr Flynn, a former vice-president of Sinn Féin, travelled to Bulgaria the previous month with Mr Cunningham. Mr Flynn said at the time that they had been there to explore joint-venture business opportunities. He said he had nothing to hide about his trips to Bulgaria. In response to media reports in Ireland suggesting some of the money from the Northern Bank raid was to be laundered in Bulgaria, the authorities there insisted they had strong legislation against such activity.
When contacted last night about the file to be sent to the DPP, Mr Flynn said: "I don't have anything to say, I couldn't possibly comment on speculation."
Hours after the controversy began on February 17th with a series of Garda raids, seizures of cash and documents and arrests, Mr Flynn stood down as chairman of Bank of Scotland (Ireland), as chairman of the Government committee on decentralisation and as a director of VHI.
The Irish Times understands that when the file on the IRA Cork money-laundering operation linked to the Northern Bank raid is sent to the DPP, it will recommend that money-laundering prosecutions be pursued against a number of people in the Munster area. Senior Garda sources said their investigations into the discovery of the money in Cork, and smaller amounts in other parts of the Republic, will continue.
