The director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Mckelson Ferrol, said his agency has secured the conviction of a Venezuelan for money laundering. Ferrol said the government convicted Edwin Daniel Reyes Garcia under the modified Money Laundering Prevention Act before Chief Magistrate Candia Carrette-George of the High Court early last week.
According to the FIU director, Garcia was on July 4, 2021, intercepted at the D&D guest house in Marigot by officers of the Anti-Crime Task Force and €162,000 seized from him. Further investigations revealed that the money was a proceed of crime and the result of money laundering, so the matter was charged to the courts.
After consultation with the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the state attorneys within the chambers of the Attorney General, an application for forfeiture was filed against the 162,000 Euro and three charges of money laundering were instituted against Garcia pursuant to the Money Laundering Prevention Act, chapter 73:03, all of which were indictable charged.
Mckelson Ferrol
Given that money laundering had been reclassified as a hybrid offence in August 2022, Garcia pleaded guilty to money laundering before Chief Magistrate Carrette-George after three charges were slammed on him. The judge sentenced him to two years in prison, but the time he had spent on remand was counted as time served for the sentence.
The judge also ordered that the €162,000 be forfeited and deposited into the State Asset Forfeiture Funds under the Money Laundering Act. She also ordered that Garcia be deemed a prohibited immigrant under the Immigration and Passport Act and be escorted out of Dominica as soon as possible. The defendant was represented in court by attorney Wayne Norde.
Ferrol reported that the confiscated fund was deposited into the appropriate government coffers on March 13 and that “the defendant is presently in custody, pending his removal from the state.” He credited the Money Laundering Prevention Act – as amended – as instrumental to the conviction case.
He emphasized that the amendment equips law enforcement agencies with the “necessary tools to investigate and prosecute persons involved in money laundering” and have the matter heard at the magistrate court. He said the amendment signified the readiness and capability of the government to combat money laundering and facilitate greater collaboration among law enforcement agencies in Dominica.
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