Moontown

Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke - file

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Ever since the warrant of arrest was issued for alleged drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, there has been debate about whether there is any legal basis for the Government to make a move on his assets.

The Proceeds of Crime Act makes provision for the court to freeze the assets of a person who obtains wealth by illicit means, even if that person has not been charged or convicted.

A lawyer who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter said freezing assets was the ultimate goal of taking the profit out of crime.

Attorneys with whom The Gleaner spoke emphasised that unless a person is charged with a criminal offence in Jamaica, steps could not be taken to freeze his assets. The lawyers said that if a person is extradited to the United States and is convicted there, the Jamaican Government could only take steps to confiscate his assets if the United States makes such a request.

A lawyer explained that in criminal cases, an application can be made to the court to have assets frozen after a person is charged with a criminal offence. If the person is convicted, an application can be made to the court for the assets to be forfeited. The application is usually made for the assets to be frozen after the person is arrested and charged in order to prevent the person from disposing of the assets before the case ends. Once the person is freed, the assets cannot be confiscated.

Civil component

But the lawyer was quick to point out that the Proceeds of Crime Act, which came into effect in May 2007, has a civil component. A person’s assets can be frozen even if he or she is not charged with a criminal offence.

The lawyer said in such cases, once the Financial Investigations Division gets information and starts a preliminary investigation into an accused’s assets, steps could be taken to have his assets frozen.

“Once you can show to the court that a property was not legitimately obtained, then based on certain assumptions which the law entitles the court to draw, the Government can move against a property where you don’t have a person charged with any offence.”

The lawyer said the objective of the civil assets forfeiture is to take away properties, as well as money in bank accounts, which are obtained by illicit means. The onus is on the person to prove he or she legitimately acquired the property.

“If you cannot prove by legitimate acquisition of the property, then the assumption is that it has been illegitimately obtained,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer emphasised that the legislation has really been underutilised.

However, if a study examining the money-laundering activities of Mexico’s drug lords is to be believed, Jamaican narco-kingpins may be following the trend of dealing almost exclusively in cash in order to remain below the radar of the authorities who might be combing through bank and other records.

“Drug moguls can buy real estate, cars, airline tickets and just about everything else in cash, allowing their powerful businesses to easily launder the estimated US$19 billion-US$29 billion they earn each year selling cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana in the US,” The Associated Press reported on Wednesday. (Jamaica Gleaner)

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com

Coronation Market, Jamaica’s main vending zone for produce, seems to be getting back in full swing as shoppers slowly shed safety fears.

Soldiers maintain order as residents of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town queue up to receive food and other supplies distributed by The Salvation Army yesterday.

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Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

The Salvation Army yesterday moved to assist the people of west Kingston who are still struggling to return to normality a week after a bloody gun battle in that section of the capital.

With many residents displaced and food in short supply, The Salvation Army distributed 500 care packages to needy residents of Denham Town, Tivoli Gardens and neighbouring communities.

“We are giving foodstuff to these people who have been affected in one way or the other by the happenings of last week,” Major Keith Graham, of the charity, told The Gleaner.

“We have considered that they have physical needs to be met and so we are here to assist in whatever way we can,” Graham added, as he handed out bags with basic food items.

Welcome gesture

It was a gesture welcomed by many residents who had to be restrained by Jamaica Defence Force soldiers as they attempted to get to the distribution area.

Sixty-two-year-old Claire Reid was among those who applauded The Salvation Army.

“This is a good thing and I give thanks to the people who carry the food to us,” said Reid, while sitting in her wheelchair.

Other residents accepted the packages but made it clear that receiving handouts was a blow to their pride and dignity.

“Me thank them still, but me don’t like it. I have to take it because I cannot do better,” one woman said as she examined a bag of food.

“Me hungry bad so me take it, but me want go back go hustle because me children have to go back to school Monday,” said another woman.

Hundreds of residents of Tivoli Gardens and adjoining communities have been denied an opportunity to earn since Labour Day when the security forces started their operation in west Kingston. Movement was restricted, first by thugs who mounted barricades and then by soldiers and police using sweeping powers under a state of public emergency.

Those most affected operated stalls in and around Coronation Market which was damaged by fire - allegedly set by militiamen loyal to the on-the-run Christopher Coke - during days-long clashes.

Returning to normality

However, normality has started to return to sections of the market and by yesterday many sellers were seen in the facility with buyers trickling in.

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the city’s municipal council, has promised that the market will be ready for full operation today despite the damaged sections.

Last weekend, market vendors who normally travel to Coronation sold their produce at Three Miles, close to the Portia Simpson Miller Square.

The KSAC has warned that no vending would be allowed at the makeshift market venue this weekend.

The People’s National Party has, however, criticised the Coronation reopening, arguing that alternative facilities such as those at the D.C. Tavares Market on Spanish Town Road should be utilised.

“We agree that the congestion in the area of the Portia Simpson Miller Square is untenable and needs to be urgently addressed. However, the level of work that still needs to be done at Coronation Market makes it practically impossible for the vendors to return there,” Opposition Spokesman for Local Government and Community Development, Colin Fagan, said last night. (Jamaica Gleaner)

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com

A little girl sucks her thumb beside a soldier as they both watch west Kingston residents collecting foodstuff from The Salvation Army at the intersection of Spanish Town Road and Regent Street yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

IT COULD cost nearly one-fifth of the current national Budget to smash the reign of terror by gangs responsible for bloodletting across Jamaica, says Finance Minister Audley Shaw.

The island’s economic growth has been retarded by a parasitic crime bug which has manifested itself in record murder rates and the scarring of its touristy image of sand, sea and sun.

Shaw, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, said the path to development would be made easier if the country was able to secure up to US$1 billion (J$88 billion) over the medium term to effectively crush crime, which is driven by scores of gangs islandwide.

“If we could secure US$500 million to a billion over the medium term, it would go a far way in the fight against crime,” Shaw said.

The minister, however, said this spending would have to target a wide spectrum of disciplines, including policing, training and social intervention.

“That figure of US$1 billion would includeadditional resources for the security forces, equipment, personnel, plus resources for community development and economic transformation in vulnerable communities,” Shaw said.

The Government is spending $11.5 billion out of the $503-billion Budget on national security this year.

More time needed

The finance minister told The Gleaner that it would take some time before Jamaica started raising funds to stem violence.

“We don’t see a donor conference before July but we are doing a lot of preparatory work even before we go into that donor conference.

“We have started to put down some hard numbers for the short, medium and long term and those numbers would include grant funding as well as soft loans,” Shaw said.

He told The Gleaner that Jamaica would be seeking grants from both bilateral and multilateral partners.

Meanwhile, Omar Azan, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, said that while he was unaware of the move to raise money to help flush crime from the country’s system, “any initiative that would help Jamaica to fight crime not only from the policing angle, but initiatives to building communities, we will support”.

Added Azan: “Crime has had a major impact not only in the actual day to day, but also in terms of the growth in the economy. It is a major deterrent to any investor coming into Jamaica and for persons going into business.”

Costly crime

A January 2004 study on the ‘Impact of Crime on Business and the Investment Climate in Jamaica’ indicated that crime costs the economy J$12.4 billion, or 3.7 per cent of GDP.

The survey found that 37 per cent of firms surveyed opted to close before dark - because of security concerns - thereby reducing productive capacity. Twenty per cent said they would increase hours of operation if crime decreased.

“On average, these firms would remain open an additional 3.6 hours per day if located in safer areas,” the survey conducted by The Caribbean Country Management Team concluded.

In a 2003 study conducted by Dillon Alleyne and Ian Boxill on the impact of crime on tourism, the researchers said: “The level of crime, especially violent crime, has to be reduced because although the number of crimes against tourists has declined, high violent crime rates tend to raise concerns among tourists seeking a destination.” (Jamaica Gleaner)

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

A ransacked room in a Tivoli Gardens house where the security forces allegedly ripped up furniture and trashed possessions in the hunt for illegal guns. More than 50 firearms have been seized in the west Kingston operation so far. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer

The Government has been pressed to pick up the tab to bury the casualties of last week’s Tivoli Gardens incursion.

Seventy-three civilians were killed after gunmen in the west Kingston community clashed with the security forces. One soldier was slain.

Yesterday, Lay Magistrate Dr Godfrey E. McAllister wrote to Prime Minister Bruce Golding suggesting that the State play a leading role in burying those killed.

McAllister argued that despite strong indications that the security forces might not have been culpable for some of the casualties, “the Government of Jamaica, at the very least, appears to be obligated to underwrite the cost of the most conservatively priced funeral for each of the victims of the incursion”.

Cabinet’s decision

Finance Minister Audley Shaw told The Gleaner yesterday that such a decision would be the Cabinet’s call.

“I can’t make an arbitrary decision on that but I don’t think it would be something that we could refuse to do. Where families want to do it, they can go ahead,” Shaw said.

Public Defender Earl Witter has also agreed that it might be appropriate for the State to assist with funeral expenses.

McAllister has proposed that it would cost less than $125,000 to bury each victim.

In 2001, following a bloody clash between police and gunmen in west Kingston which left 25 civilians dead, the Government offered to help several families bury the victims. Cabinet had approved funeral grants of $50,000 each.

However, a number of families of the deceased refused the State’s assistance, opting instead for aid from the Jamaica Labour Party, which was then the Opposition.

The West Kingston constituency contributed more than $500,000 towards the funeral expenses for 13 of the victims. (Jamaica Gleaner)

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

Aabida Allaham

A LEADING member of the banking community is calling on the People’s Partnership Government to lift the veil of secrecy and prepare a national balance sheet.

Managing Director at Scotiabank, Richard Young, admits that it may ’not be an easy task, but it will certainly show, and give the nation a true perspective’ of what we have and what we owe.

’I think it is a golden opportunity to move away from the traditional, besides that, it is a good way of dealing with citizens’ expectation, because we all know that with the advent of a new administration, everybody’s expectations evolve,’ Young said on Wednesday evening.

Young, who led Scotiabank and its subsidiaries to a record profit after tax of $238.6 million up to its half-year, ended April 30, 2010, was speaking following the ceremonial opening of the institution’s non-cash Sales Centre on the Southern Main Road in Cunupia.

’So far I am very happy in how things are progressing. Our Prime Minister has said all the correct things; she has done all the correct things … but if you have to assess the statement of affairs in the financial helm of some things, a balance sheet would be ideal,’ he said.

BRANCH OPENING: Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz (second from right) performs the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon to officially open Scotiabank’s newest branch in Cunupia on Wednesday. Looking on is Scotiabank’s managing director Richard Young (third from right). -Photos Courtesy: Scotiabank

From a financial point of view, Young believes ’the current Government is moving in a very transparent manner’. However, he said only, time can say where they would end up.

’I guess we are all looking forward to (Finance Minister) Mr (Winston) Dookeran’s assessment of the state of the country. But based on my knowledge, I don’t think it is as bad as some people may think it is, but we will have to wait and see,’ he said.

The Sales Centre in Cunupia is the latest addition to Scotiabank’s non-cash sales centres. There are similar branches at Mid Centre Mall, Chaguanas, Debe, Princes Town and Point Fortin.

’The basic premise is that customers are able to access non-cash transactions, for example loan applications, opening of new accounts, standing orders and fund transfers to name a few,’ Young said.

Additionally, he said Scotiabank customers should look out for their mobile banking feature that would allow them to use ’your smart phone the way you use your computer to do your banking’.

Member of Parliament for the area and newly sworn in Minister of Trade and Industry, Stephen Cadiz, who was on hand for the opening, praised Young for opening the centre and added that it could help facilitate a growth within the area.

’Our new Minister of Works, Jack Warner, said he intends to transform the whole Endeavour area by constructing an interchange, so that should help ease traffic and since people already see Chaguanas as a meeting point, development within the area would help,’ Cadiz said. (Trinidad Express)