IT’S CLEAR THAT THE U.S. IS VERY SERIOUS

Aug 11, 2018 Editorial

The arrest of a former Barbadian government minister, Donville Inniss, in the United States, on one count to launder money and two counts of money laundering, has sent shockwaves throughout the Caribbean.
The 52-year-old Mr. Inniss, a former Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development was released on US$50,000 bail. A powerful outspoken minister for almost ten years, and a member of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) which was ousted in the May general elections, is now reduced to wearing an electronic monitoring device to restrict his travel.
According to the U.S Department of Justice, the charges stem from several years of surveillance of Inniss who it is alleged had accepted bribes from a Barbadian insurance company in 2015 and 2016 when he was a minister in the Barbadian government.
The indictment alleged that from in or about and between August 2015 and April 2016, Inniss leveraged his position as the minister of Industry and engaged in a scheme to accept approximately US$36,000 in bribes from the insurance company, in violation of Barbadian law. But for him to launder that money to and through the United States is a violation of U.S. and international laws. In exchange for the bribes, Inniss allegedly helped the insurance company obtain two government contracts worth over US$16 million.
It is alleged that as a government official, Inniss abused his position of trust by taking bribe from the company, then concealing the illicit funds through a bank and a dental company located in Elmont in Eastern New York. As reported, executives of the Barbados insurance company transferred the funds to the dental company using a false invoice to claim that the payments were for consulting services. At the time of the transactions, Inniss was a permanent resident of the United States residing in Tampa, Florida and Barbados.
The charges demonstrate the firm commitment of the United States Department of Justice to hold accountable anyone, whether an American citizen/resident or a foreigner, who seeks to use the U.S. financial system to facilitate their criminal conduct. The bond conditions state that the former minister must submit to supervision by, and report for supervision to, the United States Pretrial Services Agency, as directed by the Agency or its supervising officer.
These imposed conditions had to be demeaning to Inniss who was known for expressing opinions freely and had on a few occasions publicly disagreed with the decisions of the former Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart, and cabinet.
The allegations and the federal indictment of Inniss have rocked Barbados. Barbadians have to come to grips with the fact that the former Minister, who was the face of international business and investment in Barbados, has been indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges. This incident is without precedent in the history of Barbados.
This incident has hurt the image and reputation of one of the best international tourist destinations in the Caribbean and arguably the world. Innis’ situation should be taken seriously by all in the region, including our own sometimes nonchalant public officials here in Guyana. It should be a wake-up call for those bent on indulging in illegal practices.
Guyana and most of the countries in the Caribbean have passed sweeping anti-corruption and anti-money laundering legislation, yet not one high official has been brought before the courts. These are serious crimes that cannot be swept under the proverbial carpet.
We know that Mr. Inniss is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but one thing is clear, the U.S. is very serious about ending such illegal practices.

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