An representative of the Educational Building Society has appeared in court charged with laundering more than €1.1 million.
Shane Sutton (42), Howth Road, Clontarf, Dublin, manager EBS in Marino, Dublin, faces 45 counts of money-laundering under section 31 (3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 and three under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act 2001. An EBS spokesman said last night Mr Sutton was a tied agent and not an employee.
It is alleged he handled sums of money knowing or believing it directly or indirectly represented another person's criminal activity between December 2000 and March 2003 by lodging it in an account in his own name.
It is also alleged the beneficiary of this was a criminal figure who was named in court.
Garda Sondra Cullen told Dublin District Court that she arrested Mr Sutton at the Bridewell Garda station yesterday and he had nothing to say in reply to the charges. Gardaí did not object to bail but sought a substantial independent surety.
Mr Sutton's solicitor, Darragh Robinson, asked yesterday that his client be given his own bail because he had met gardaí by appointment for his arrest and had made himself available to gardaí since he was first interviewed in February 2004.
Since then he had been abroad in Europe three times and in the US, St Lucia and Antigua and had always returned to this jurisdiction.
He had a wife and two children and two children from a previous marriage. He was a partner in a light-fittings business. Mr Robinson said he was not a risk of flight from the jurisdiction given these ties.
Judge William Hamill said, considering the amount of money involved, he would set Mr Sutton's own bail at €1,000 with an independent surety of €50,000 or a cash lodgment of €50,000. He remanded him in custody until October 18th with consent to bail.