A witness has denied at Cork Criminal Court swindling a German hotelier out of DM 2 million. On the third day of his evidence to a money-laundering trial at Cork Criminal Circuit Court, Mr Swen Uwe Palisch (27), a German national, said he was merely the go-between for Mr Klaus Jurgen Wiese, a hotelier and businessman who needed a loan to build a leisure complex. He arranged contact with Mr Walter Robin, a US financier living in Monte Carlo, for Mr Wiese and his adviser, Mr Hubertus Kruse.
"Mr Wiese and Mr Kruse are very cross that they didn't get their loan, but they still don't seem to realise it was Walter Ro bin who defrauded them," he said. He has denied the suggestion of Ms Maureen Clarke SC, for the State, that he was "the crook who stole money and laundered it in Ireland".
Ms Maria Bernadetta Jehle (47), of The Priory, Cobh, Co Cork, denies two charges of handling money knowing it was the proceeds of others' criminal activity.
Ms Clarke put it to Mr Palisch that he disagreed with all the evidence given by previous witnesses, including Mr Wiese, Mr Kruse and Mr Robin. "I am only clarifying certain matters," he replied.
The trial continues today.