FROZEN

Nearly two dozen assets valued at more than $100 million that have been traced to a convicted lottery scammer have been ordered frozen by the Supreme Court.

A restraint or freezing order is the first step in having assets derived from criminal conduct forfeited to the Government through the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the legislation enacted to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten gains.

The string of assets believed to be owned by the convict includes roughly 20 motor vehicles, a “very valuable” piece of real estate, multiple bank accounts, and cash, according to Keith Darien, principal director in charge of investigations at the Financial Investigations Division (FID).

The FID is the arm of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service that enforces POCA.

The vehicles were acquired over a “very short period of time” without any loan financing, while the cash was seized at premises linked to the man during two operations flowing from a joint investigation between the FID and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), Darien disclosed.

He said Jamaican authorities also have evidence that a “significant” sum of United States currency was taken from the convicted scammer by American law enforcement agents “when he tried to smuggle the cash within the US”.

The man was convicted in February last year for possession of identity information, a criminal offence under the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transaction) Act, widely known as the lottery scam law, and breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act for offering a bribe to a MOCA special agent, the FID confirmed.

The lottery scam legislation was enacted 11 years ago amid an explosion in the advance fee schemes at the time.

“The overall value of his criminal benefit was assessed by financial crime investigators at in excess of $100 million,” Darien said on Friday during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner.

He said the Supreme Court is to schedule a hearing to determine the extent of the convict’s benefit from his criminal conduct. The court will also determine whether any of his assets should be forfeited to the Government or if a pecuniary penalty should be imposed.

SCAMMERS RAKING IN APPROXIMATELY US$600M ANNUALLY

Jamaican lottery scammers are raking in approximately US$600 million annually mainly from elderly American citizens through various advance fee schemes, a top US law enforcement official has revealed, citing complaints reported to the US Federal Trade Commission.

“I would say within the last decade, it’s probably been about US$3.2 billion,” Eric Shen, inspector in charge of criminal investigations at the US Postal Inspection Service, told The Sunday Glean er during an October 17 interview.

Twenty-eight Jamaicans have been extradited to the US in the last decade – including five so far this year – to face criminal charges related to their involvement in the deadly lottery scam, he disclosed.

Between June 2020 and August this year, the FID completed asset recovery investigations against 17 people who were convicted in the Jamaican high court for offences under the lottery scam legislation, Darien disclosed.

The benefits that were derived through their criminal lifestyle amounted to approximately J$331.3 million and US$347,492, he said, citing asset forfeiture investigations conducted by the FID.

Darien said over the same four-year period, seven asset forfeiture cases were finalised in the Supreme Court, resulting in confiscation and pecuniary orders amounting to J$31.8 million and US$71,230.

Among them was Algrando Stewart, a St James man who consented in the St James Circuit Court to pay the Government a pecuniary penalty of $12 million and to forfeit a $7-million residential lot in Coral Spring, Trelawny, as well as US$5,230 and J$116,000 in cash.

Stewart pleaded guilty to possession of identity information.

An investigation revealed that he directly received more than J$20 million in remittances and millions more via intermediaries from lottery scamming activities.

The cash was used to purchase two residential lots in Trelawny and three motor vehicles valued at approximately $8 million over a four-month period, the FID disclosed at the time.

He also had bank accounts with over J$2.9 million and US$9,800.

The remaining 10 asset forfeiture cases being handled by the FID are still pending.

Noting that there is still a significant number of players involved in lottery scamming, the FID principal director of investigations explained that the cash fleeced by up to 70 per cent of them is wasted.

“But there are a few who are major organised players who employ sophisticated laundering techniques,” he said.

Shen had high praises for the work being done by Jamaican law enforcement agencies to combat lottery scamming. FID, MOCA, the police Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Division and the Fugitive Apprehension Team were among the agencies he singled out.

“We have a strong partnership with Jamaican law enforcement and we work very well together. All great partners in combatting scamming,” he said.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com