THE FINANCIAL adviser accused of money laundering cash from the Northern Bank Robbery yesterday denied changing his story that he received £2.3 million from Bulgarian businessmen in October 2004 to take account of the fact that some of the cash bore markings from a later date.
Ted Cunningham told the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that he received the £2.3 million found in his house in Farran on February 17th, 2005 from Bulgarian businessmen in six different deliveries between October 2004 and February 2005.
Mr Cunningham told prosecution counsel, Tom O’Connell SC that he received the first payment of £800,000 in the church car park near his home at Farran in October 2004, and a second payment of £200,000 at the Blarney Park Hotel in early December 2004.
He said he received four more payments of £500,000 at the Clonmore Hotel in Tullamore, Co Offaly on January 17th, 2005, the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan, Co Meath on January 21st 2005 and two payments at Tullybeg Nursing Home at Rahan, Co Offaly in February.
But Mr O’Connell said this was at odds with the statement made by Mr Cunningham to detectives who arrested and interviewed him on February 17th, 2005 when he told them that he had received all £2.3 million found at his house in one delivery in October 2004.
Mr O’Connell put it to Mr Cunningham the reason he had changed his story was because he did not realise at the time of his arrest that one of the seized notes carried a December 2004 stamp from the Lurgan branch of the Northern Bank, while others carried handwriting.
But Mr Cunningham denied that he had changed his story and said that when he told gardaí on February 17th, 2005 that he received the money in October 2004, he meant that he had started receiving it then and not that he had received all of it on that occasion.
“My understanding was they were asking when did I start getting the money? I was honest and said the first lot came in October. When I was being interviewed about how long was it there, I said since last October – meaning the first lot of money I received was in October.” But Mr O’Connell read out a transcript of Mr Cunningham’s statement to gardaí in which he was asked how much was in his basement and he replied “£2.3 million” before being asked how long it was there and he replied: “Since last October – it came from the Bulgarians.”
Mr O’Connell also put it to Mr Cunningham that it was strange that there were no entries in any of the diaries seized by gardaí relating to Mr Cunningham’s receipt of the £3 million in six separate deliveries even though there were some entries relating to its dispersal.
Mr Cunningham, who confirmed that he gave no receipts for any of the deliveries, said that he frequently recorded details of such transactions on loose A4 sheets and that he would later transfer them into a diary, but there were times he forgot to write things in the diaries.
Mr O’Connell also asked Mr Cunningham how his mobile phone records showed his phone at Ballyphehane in Cork city at about 8pm on February 2nd, 2005 when he had told the jury that he was in Rahan in Co Offaly collecting a £500,000 delivery from the Bulgarians.
“Maybe I forgot my phone, maybe my son had it,” said Mr Cunningham, adding that he usually had two mobile phones and sometimes had three mobile phones in the course of his work. Mr Cunningham denies 20 counts of money-laundering.
