The principals of Alliance Financial Services Limited (AFSL), Peter Chin and Robert Chin, are to return to court early next month to answer charges relating to breaches of the Bank of Jamaica Act, the Banking Services Act, and the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The men will return to court on January 10.

The date was set when they appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday.

The men’s attorney-at-law Tom Tavares-Finson told the court that the proposed date should give sufficient time for investigations to be completed.

The Crown, which was represented by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Maxine Jackson, did not object.

Peter Chin and Robert Chin, the president and vice-president of AFSL, Alliance Finance Limited (AFL), and Alliance Investment Management Limited (AIML), respectively, were arrested and charged with breaches of the Banking Services Act and for allegations that they accepted deposits in excess of US$7.5 million over the three-year period, 2014 to 2017 — without the requisite licence from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

Peter Chin and AIML are charged with failure to file threshold transaction reports as mandated under the Proceeds of Crime Act for transactions exceeding or equal to US$15,000 (or its equivalent in any other currency) to the Financial Investigations Division (FID).

Consequent on the charges, the BOJ suspended AFSL’s authorisations to operate its cambio and remittance businesses. It is no longer authorised to operate in the BOJ Fintech Regulatory Sandbox.

At their first hearing on December 14, a stop order, which prevents the Alliance executives from leaving the country, was issued by Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague.

However, their bail, which is in the sum of $1 million each, was extended on Friday.