The Supreme Court on Monday this week ordered property valued at more than $100 million forfeited from a 61-year-old Manchester businesswoman who was recently convicted on money laundering charges.

According to the Financial Investigations Division (FID) of the finance ministry, the businesswoman, Eva Mae Sterling, her son Nicholaus Chang, and sister Marline Ledford, in May this year, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in a transaction involving criminal property contrary to section 92 (1) (a) of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2007 (POCA).

Sterling, the FID said in a news release, was fined $300,000 or nine months’ imprisonment on one count, and 12 months’ imprisonment – suspended for 24 months – on the second count, for her role in money laundering.

“Chang and Ledford pleaded not guilty,” the FID said, adding that as part of a plea deal with Sterling, in which she admitted liability for the crime, the Crown offered no evidence against Chang and Ledford and, as such, discharged them without trial.

According to the FID, investigations conducted in Jamaica and abroad “revealed that between 2011 and 2014 the trio of Sterling, Chang and Ledford conspired to, and engaged in, money laundering such that the proceeds from drug trafficking (approximately $228 million) were used to purchase six properties across several parishes”.

The FID also said that the trio used the money to invest in their respective businesses.

“The three were arrested and charged in 2017 by detectives from the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch, who later referred the matter to the FID in 2017.”

The FID said that the forfeited property included five parcels of land measuring more than 600 acres across four parishes, which the trio had purchased for approximately $105 million between 2012 and 2014.

“In St Elizabeth, there are two parcels; one jointly owned by Sterling and her son, Chang. The other parcel was solely owned by Ledford,” the FID stated.

It also said that Sterling was listed as the owner of land in Clarendon and Ledford listed as the sole owner on two other properties — one in St Catherine and the other in St Mary.

“The Proceeds of Crime Act aims to deter the occurrence of financial crime by ensuring that those who are found guilty of breaching the Act, lose the benefits of their criminal activities,” the release quotes the FID’s Director of Legal Services Courtney Smith.

“We encourage the public to remain on the right side of POCA. Do not encourage or enable persons engaged in criminal activities. Further, do not interact with any property or cash from their ill-gotten gains. Do not be a conduit for criminal proceeds,” Smith added.