Over the period February 9–12, 2022, the Financial Investigations Division (FID) successfully forfeited amounts totalling approximately $620,000, US$14,400 and CA$11,000 from four people in Hanover and St James.

In commenting on the orders handed down by the courts, FID’s Principal Director Keith Darien said, “These cases clearly demonstrate two things – one, the willingness of some Jamaicans to participate in unlawful activities or to facilitate same. Two, the ignorance of some members of the public about the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA); this ignorance may be wilful or inadvertent. It is evident that we have to remind the public about POCA and encourage their adherence to it.”

He further stated, “Our function at the FID is to remove the benefit from crime. Wherever we gather evidence of a lifestyle being financed by criminal activities and ill-gotten gains, the FID will pursue the matter in the courts and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

He added, “We congratulate our colleagues in law enforcement for their continued vigilance and awareness to apply POCA charges when presented with certain predicate offences. In one of the cases, it was officers in the Jamaica Customs Agency who acted to seize cash under the POCA; while in the other two it was the JCF’s CTOC officers at work in laying the POCA charges while investigating a homicide.”

Darien said he anticipates broader use of this legislation across law enforcement and as such is inviting Jamaicans to shun opportunities which involve the proceeds of criminal activities. He said, “Having a criminal record can be a massive impediment to upward mobility; also the passage of these cases through the courts can tie up valuable time out of your life, time which you can never regain. Instead, we ask of the public to share information about criminal activities rather than aiding and abetting them.”