A 65-YEAR-OLD financial adviser who denied laundering cash from the Ira's Northern Bank robbery, has changed his plea to guilty on the fourth day of his trial. Ted Cunningham, of Woodbine Lodge, Farran in Co Cork, had pleaded not guilty to nine counts of laundering £605,000 stolen from a Belfast branch of the bank in 2004. The money was part of £26.5 million taken during a robbery carried out by the Ira. The robbery was one of the largest in Irish or British history. Yesterday morning, he indicated he wanted to plead guilty to some of the charges. Cunningham was re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to two charges. Tom o'Connell QC, prosecuting, said those pleas were acceptable to the DPP. Cunningham pleaded guilty to laundering a total of £275,400 and receiving cheques totalling n 200,000. He pleaded guilty to laundering £100,040 on January 15 2005 by transferring it to John Douglas of Tullamore, Co offaly. He also pleaded guilty to laundering £175,360 on February 7 2005, by transferring it to John Sheehan in Ballincollig, Co Cork and receiving three cheques totalling n 200,000. The judge granted an application from the defence to adjourn sentencing. Cunningham was remanded on bail for sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on February 27.
