US citizen fined J$ 1 million for smuggling cash in luggage, forfeiture proceedings to follow
/ Our Today
administrator
On April 28, 2023, the Financial Investigations Division (FID) successfully secured the conviction of a US citizen in the St James Parish Court for Concealment of Criminal Property and Possession of Criminal Property.
The convict, Kenardo Coke, a 30-year-old security guard of a New Jersey address, was fined J$500,000 on each offence or 6 months imprisonment.
The conviction follows the seizure of US$50,400 from Coke on April 10, 2021, at the Donald Sangster International Airport. A Court hearing is set for June 23, 2023, in respect of forfeiting the cash under Section 79 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).
In commenting on the case, the FID’s Principal Director of Investigation, Keith Darien, noted, “The collaboration with the FID, the JCF and Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) in tackling Money Launderers who try to smuggle ill-gotten gains to our shores must be lauded. I thank our colleagues for their vigilance and dedication.
“In this case, the effectiveness of JCA in depriving criminals of their spoils may have prevented the acquisition of illegal arms or incidents of shooting and murders. We must also highlight the efforts of remittance agencies and our local banks in their robust due diligence processes, which make it increasingly difficult to transfer tainted funds”
Keith Darien, Principal Director of Investigation, Financial Investigations Division
The decades-long collaboration has been strategically strengthened by the recent signing of MOUs with various agencies including FID, JCA, JCF and others. We are demonstrating to everyone that law enforcement agencies are committed to partnering to investigate and prosecute those persons who commit a crime and will work assiduously to remove the benefit of such criminality.”
He added, “In this case, the effectiveness of JCA in depriving criminals of their spoils may have prevented the acquisition of illegal arms or incidents of shooting and murders. We must also highlight the efforts of remittance agencies and our local banks in their robust due diligence processes, which make it increasingly difficult to transfer tainted funds.”
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