Cops use court to confiscate criminal cash
(CNS): Over the last two weeks the police have seized more than CI$36,500 from three convicted criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Law using court orders. The RCIPS Financial Crime Unit went after a Colombian national’s ill-gotten gains from illegal gambling, a Bulgarian national who was convicted of theft and a local drug dealer to get the money for the public purse and deprive criminals of the profit from crime. The FCU uses a civil power to seize cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime as well as money laundering investigations.
In the first of the three cases, the RCIPS said they were able to seize CI$23,700 from an unidentified Colombian man, earned through gambling under a Proceeds of Crime Law – Recovery Order. This was the first time that a civil power of recovery has been used to forfeit assets that are suspected to be the profit of crime.
Nickolay Nickolov, a Bulgarian national who was convicted of theft and attempted theft, received a forfeiture order for CI$2,400 which was found in his possession at the time he was arrested by a financial investigator from the FCU. Prior to the forfeiture order Nickolov had also paid compensation of CI$1,050 to two financial institutions.
In the third case, Alexander Ebanks was ordered to pay a confiscation order for CI$10,256, having previously been convicted of conspiracy to supply drugs.
“We are working with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to fully utilise the provisions available in the Proceeds of Crime legislation, in order to take the financial benefit out of crime,” said Chief Inspector Richard Barrow of the Financial Crime Unit.
“This means that even in cases where the evidential threshold is not met for the criminal offence, we can still seek to pursue and eliminate the financial benefit gained from that criminal activity. We are pleased to see that this area of focus has been met with recent successes.”
The Financial Crime Unit has also been assisting the Community Policing Department and the multi-agency Joint Task Force in their proactive operations and have recently seized cash in excess of CI$15,000. This money is suspected to be the profits of drug dealing, money laundering, and illegal gambling, and these cases are currently under investigation for these criminal offences.
Any funds confiscated in the past.????
“Pocket change”, add it all up day after, person after person, year after year and you will see it is not. Negativity gets you no where. Just because failings occurred in past doesn’t mean they have to occur in the future. I give credit where it is due. Well done to the officers concerned, but don’t stop keep going.
Nothing from our hometown hero Jeffie boy yet then?
This sounds like drug lords and criminals are going to have take their business off shore and bank at 12 mile bank if they want to keep the profits .
So many good things happening!!
A step in the right direction.
Thanks RCIP! Keep it up! Ignore the whiners.
Is the Colombian the one with the Caymanian name that has been running the numbers racket in Cayman for the last 20 years?
Does this Colombian national have a name?
If he is still in Cayman then CIG why NOT also issue a deportation order?
Can’t be deported is not a
convicted person read cayman law before judge people !!!
Thank you RCIPS and the government’s legal department. Making crime less profitable every way we can will make crime less attractive. Now go after the money that is passed on by the criminals to their wives and girlfriends. Plenty unemployed wives and girlfriends with very expensive jewelry and plenty homes in the names of wives and girlfriends with no legitimate way of paying for them.
Pocket Change RCIPS over inflating itself yet again. I know at least two instances in the not too distance past where more money was seized without all this pile of mumbo jumbo laws substantial money too one a gambling operation the other a pump & dump scheme. Yes those were the days when he had real investigators and not these johnny come lately opportunist glory hunting and promoting their own little agenda for the sole purpose of getting jobs in the private sector when they leave the RCIPS. Yes far too many now riding and pulling mileage and financial rewards on the backs of those who were simple more capable than them.
Every cent RCIPS, however small, is a cent less for these career criminals.
Nothing used to please me more than confiscating the vessels used to carry these drugs!! Cars, boats etc., hit them where it hurts! Well done!
That’s petty cash for those guys rcip! They gave you pocket change!!
So what if its pocket change; its a start.
You are missing the point.