A Bermudian who traveled from St. Lucia to Bermuda to Bequia, in the Grenadines, is on trial in Serious Offences Court in St. Vincent, charged with two counts of money laundering. Winston Franklin Robinson, of Sandys, is accused of secreting $1.7m in US Dollars within the freshwater tank of the sailboat.
His testimony to date has been that the cash represents his personal savings, earned since the 1980s, from his jobs in hotels and through fishing. What is interesting about the case is the fact that he probably picked up the cash in Bermuda. Since it might be difficult to amass such a large amount of currency in a small island nation with strict anti-money laundering laws, we ask the question: where did the money come from ?
Obviously, it was bulk cash smuggled into Bermuda, but how ? On a vessel, coming from the United States, delivering consumer goods ? By private aircraft, secreted in the fuselage ? By cash couriers, concealed on their persons, over a number of trips ? We cannot say, but it shows you that bulk cash smuggling, even into a jurisdiction not known to be a favoured destination, is alive and well.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.