SAOIRSE32

By Liam Heylin
Irish News
13/02/09

Big Boss:allegation that Phil Flynn, former chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) was the boss behind the Northern Bank robbery

A FORMER vice-president of Sinn Fein was the “boss behind everything”, the trial of a man accused of laundering money taken in the £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery heard yesterday.

The allegation against Phil Flynn, a former chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and a one-time adviser to ex-taoiseach Bertie Ahern, was made by Ted Cunningam.

Big Boss:allegation that Phil Flynn, former chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) was the boss behind the Northern Bank robbery

Mr Cunningham, of Woodbine Lodge in Farran, Co Cork, denies 20 charges of money-laundering, arising from the investigation of the robbery of the Northern Bank in Belfast on December 20 2004.

The court heard that the 60-year-old was being interviewed on videotape at Bride-well Garda station in Cork when he requested to come off tape and talk to the head of the investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Quilter.

Mr Quilter went through this transcript for the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

He said that at one stage du-ring the off-camera interview Mr Cunningham breathed a sigh, appeared to hesitate and said: “Look, Phil Flynn is the boss behind everything, Cath-erine is the contact… Phil and Catherine were organising everything. I raised concerns with Phil that the money was from the Northern Bank robbery.”

The court was told that when Mr Cunningham was asked off-camera about what he suspected in relation to the notes, he said: “When I opened the bag I saw Northern sterling. I was not a fool.

“When I saw the Northern notes I knew what it was. I suspected it was from the Northern Bank job.”

Mr Flynn was named in a letter by Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain in 2005 as a director of the Belfast-based Daily Ireland newspaper but this was denied by its publisher. The paper closed the following year.

The court also heard that a Sinn Fein councillor was in the basement of Mr Cunningham’s home counting sterling and getting rid of ‘bad money’.

“He gave [councillor] Tom Hanlon the bulk of these sports bags – the bad money, the Northern Bank notes… He had given this to councillor last week and had not seen him since… he put them into Dunnes bags. Tom Hanlon was in the basement counting money, using gloves,” Mr Quilter said.

Mr Quilter said Mr Hanlon was arrested and questioned at the time.

“I think Mr Hanlon merely looked at the wall,” he said.