Gardai Complete Money-Laundering File

Gardai (Irish police) completed an investigation into suspected money-laundering operations by the Provisional IRA following the massive £26 million Northern Bank raid in Belfast two years ago. A nationwide garda search codenamed Operation Phoenix led to the home of a financial adviser in Cork where cash deposits of £2.4 million matched with banknotes stolen in the raid. Gardai believe that almost £5 million of the haul was sent to Cork for laundering through various channels. Another IRA republican activist in Cork harbor held part of the haul in safe-keeping, but when he heard that gardai were getting close, he panicked and set about burning the cash at his home. The garda file, which accounts for £5 million of the £26 million raid, has been sent on to the Director of Public Prosecutions. ♦