Canadian Bank Robber Pleads Guilty To Funding Rebels

A Canadian bank robber who pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing an antique jewellery piece made for a 19th-century Austrian empress also revealed he was funding Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

Gerald Blanchard, 35, pleaded guilty to 16 charges in a Winnipeg court for his role in fraud and bank heists. As well, the court heard that he had funnelled money from stolen credit cards to Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

According to prosecutors, Mr. Blanchard and two other Canadians had travelled to Cairo to use fraudulently obtained credit cards and debit information to get cash they then sent to a man in Britain identified only as "the Boss."

In a wiretap transcript, Mr. Blanchard is overhead saying the Boss planned to use that money to finance activities of Kurdish fighters and possibly other terrorist groups.