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Mark Kappart / Contributor

It comes as little surprise that the CEO of NCB Merchant Bank (Trinidad& Tobago) Marli Creese has resigned.

He tendered his resignation days after Trinidad & Tobago’s Customs & Excise discovered US$2 million in cash in a white crocus bag belonging to NCB at the South Terminal of the Piarco International Airport on June 25, 2026.

The cash came from NCB Merchant Bank and was en route to Miami with a stopover in Jamaica.

NCB put out a statement and insisted there was nothing untoward here and that banks moved cash like this all the time.

The Trinidadian authorities didn’t see it that way and are conducting a full investigation. The money was seized and given to Trinidad’s Central Bank for safekeeping.

The optics here didn’t look good, particularly in light of the twin -island Republic having a serious foreign exchange problem.

This was red-flagged because there were certain breaches of procedure and governance issues.

It does beg the question: how often has this manner of transporting cash been taking place with NCB, and who is ensuring all protocols and procedures are being adhered to?

The current Trinidad & Tobago administration has formed a close relationship with the United States and has vowed to curtail money-laundering, drug smuggling and cash shipment felonies. This NCB situation will attract warranted attention, and questions will be asked of Caribbean banks and the way they operate.

New York analyst Brian Barnes, who has done some work with Allen & Company, said: “ This situation was bizarre and, on first impressions, sounds like something out of a Godfather or Good Fellas mafia movie. It’s hard to imagine J.P. Morgan or Citi finding itself in this predicament. It again puts the spotlight on Caribbean banks and their operating diligence. It isn’t hard to see that the CEO had to fall on his sword and his departure was finessed.  If this was not a big deal and happens all the time, why are Customs & Excise and the Trinidadian Central Bank all over this? Why did this guy, Marli Creese, have to resign, days after putting out a statement that  NCB were above board and followed all the rules? “

Creese has been replaced by acting CEO Mahalia Alleyne, who will now have to navigate through this mess.

NCB Jamaica CEO Sheree Martin said: “ Mahalia is a respected leader who understands our organisation, our people, our customers and the operating environment in which we serve. Her appointment reflects the strength of our internal leadership capacity and ensures continuity during this transaction period.

“On behalf of the NCB Banking Group, we thank Marli for his service and contribution to NCB Merchant  Bank (Trinidad& Tobago) Ltd., and we wish him every success in his next chapter.”

Many banks fly cash to different locations and intra-institution cash transactions do take place- nothing new there. However, stringent rules apply, and transparency protocols must be complied with.

If Customs & Excise knew about this US$2 million and a security firm had made the necessary checklist, alarm bells would not have gone off. Something triggered the seizure of the cash and alerted the government and financial public sector agencies, thus leading to scrutiny.

NCB will now have to convince the Trinidadian government that this is all just a storm in a teacup and no major infractions were committed. Perhaps a few i’s were not dotted and some t’s not crossed. 

Trinidad’s Central Bank acknowledges that the incident has highlighted certain deficiencies and it must move to address them.

It issued a statement which read: “ The Bank recognises that there are many areas of the management of the system that need to be strengthened and a number of initiatives will be rolled out in the coming months. This includes updating the Exchange Control Act.”