Tag: gold smuggling
Co-pilot, in jail more than 1,550 days, fights extradition
(CNS): A man who arrived in the Cayman Islands as the co-pilot of a private jet more than four years ago has been in jail since then, despite being found not guilty of gold smuggling here in 2020, as he fights extradition to the United States. Juan Carlos Gonzales Infante (60), a Venezuelan national who […]
UK’s NCA to keep ‘dirty gold’ moved through Cayman
(CNS): Over 100kg of gold worth an estimated £4 million that was moved through the Cayman Islands in 2019 has been claimed by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The collection of gold bars was destined for Switzerland via Heathrow after it left Cayman in two shipments that had arrived here on a private jet […]
‘Gold case’ pilot suing for legal aid
(CNS): Juan Carlos Gonzales Infante, a Venezuelan pilot who arrived in Cayman more than two years ago aboard a private jet carrying two passengers, $2 million worth of gold and around $135,000 in cash hidden under the floorboards, is suing the courts’ legal aid department after his application for help to fight extradition to the […]
Released foreign offenders beg to go home
(CNS) Two Venezuelan men and one Colombian man who have served their time for drug smuggling convictions are desperate to go home and, after at least four failed attempts, they don’t understand why there are so many barriers to their deportation. Lesme Ruiz (54), Jose Leonardo Ferrini (35) and Jose Moloina (26) are facing a […]
Offenders await deportation in 7MB hotels
(CNS): Several foreign nationals who have committed offences in the Cayman Island but who have served their prison time are being housed in hotels around the Seven Mile Beach area, at public expense, as they wait to be deported. CNS has submitted a number of questions about the issue to the authorities but no one […]
Suspect gold smugglers acquitted
(CNS): A jury reached not guilt verdicts last week on all of the charges against a group of men accused of smuggling over $6 million worth of dirty gold across international borders, believed to be the proceeds of crime. After a trial lasting more than a dozen weeks, beset by numerous delays, the men were […]
Jury faces 100s of dox as gold smuggling case resumes
(CNS): The trial of five men who are accused of being involved in an illegal gold smuggling venture resumed this week, after a near month-long break, with the presentation of mountains of documents. The first witness to take the stand as the crown re-opened the case was a police intelligence officer who specialises in electronic […]
‘Dirty gold’ was proceeds of crime, says QC
(CNS): James Hines QC said $6 million worth of ‘dirty gold’ transferred through the Cayman Islands by a group of Venezuelan nationals earlier this year derived from a crime that has not been identified. But opening the crown’s case against five defendants accused of money laundering and conspiracy to conceal criminal property, Hines told the […]
Gold smuggling trial beset with delays
(CNS): After a week of closed door legal hearings, the trial of five men in a gold smuggling case was due to get underway this week. While the crown was scheduled to open the case Monday, illness plagued the jury, which was empaneled last month and the trial was adjourned. The complex cross-border money laundering […]
Broker charged in gold smuggling case
(CNS): Kody Zander, the VP of the Cayman-based precious metals broker, Byzantium, which processed $6 million worth of gold that is believed to be the proceeds of criminal activity in Venezuela, has become the fifth person to be charged in a case which was busted here by the authorities in May. Zander is expected in […]
More arrests, charges in gold smuggling case
(CNS): Four Venezuelan nationals who are all implicated in a complex $6 million gold smuggling operation, which the UK’s National Crime Agency has said is linked to South American drug cartels, appeared in court this week for pre-trial hearings, facing more related charges. It was also revealed that another person, who is connected to the […]
