A Co Cork chef accused of IRA membership was found with a Daz washing powder box containing over €94,000 by gardaí investigating the funding of illegal organisations, the Special Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Don Bullman (32), Fernwood Crescent, Leghanamore, Wilton, Co Cork, has denied IRA membership on February 16th, 2005.
Yesterday, the opening day of the trial, George Birmingham SC, prosecuting, said that gardaí investigating the funding of illegal organisations carried out a surveillance operation at Heuston Station on February 16th, 2005.
They saw Mr Bullman with a small navy rucksack at the front of the station and later he got into the back of an SUV which then drove to a car park at the rear of the station.
Members of the gardaí approached the SUV, where Mr Bullman was in the rear and two men from Derry were in the front.
Gardaí saw a navy rucksack with a large red box in a plastic bag protruding from it and when Mr Bullman was asked about this, he said it contained toys.
Mr Bullman and the two other men in the SUV were arrested and taken to Clondalkin Garda station.
The red box was examined by Garda forensic experts and was found to be a Daz washing powder box which contained €94,250 in three bundles wrapped in cloth.
The box had been opened and then resealed and refilled with washing powder. Gardaí also found a handwritten note which appeared to be a conversion table from sterling to euro.
Mr Bullman's fingerprints were found on the plastic bag in which the Daz box was found.
A search of Mr Bullman's home found an investment bond in his name for €50,000, a sweet tin containing £870 sterling and a number of documents tied together with a ribbon which bore the words "Tiocfaidh Ár Lá".
During a search of the house of George Hegarty at Donnybrook Cottages, Cork, gardaí found £60,000 sterling in 12 bundles of £5,000 each of Northern Irish banknotes.
During interviews with the gardaí Mr Bullman denied any knowledge of Mr Hegarty but the court would hear evidence that gardaí had observed Mr Bullman meeting Mr Hegarty in the car park of a Cork pub on February 14th, 2005.
During seven interviews at Clondalkin Garda station Mr Bullman denied IRA membership and denied any knowledge of the box with the money.
Mr Bullman said he was at Heuston Station on his way to a Glasgow Celtic match but had changed his mind but another chef from Cork would tell the court that he and Mr Bullman travelled to Dublin to attend a catering exhibition, Mr Birmingham said.
Mr Bullman was asked during an interview about a name tag for the catering exhibition which said: "Jerry McCabe, Catering Officer, Garda Club" and he said it was " a joke in dubious taste" about the late Det Garda McCabe.
Mr Bullman was asked during interviews about his association with a number of people who have each been convicted of IRA membership and denied knowing these people except for one individual.
The trial continues.