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Obliged to report
FirstCaribbean cannot say who is being investigated, but it is obliged, under the Money Laundering Act of 1998, to "make a report to the designated authority" any cash transaction involving US$8,000 or more, or its Jamaican equivalent. The Trafigura 'gift' to the PNP, transferred to the account of CCOC Associates, is several times more than the amount which requires the bank to make a report to the designated authority. Sub-section (5) of the act said that failure to comply is an offence for which the bank can be convicted and fined $400,000.
The same act prevents the bank from disclosing to anyone that the report was made. The Sunday Gleaner put the questions to the Bank of Jamaica which also declined to answer, citing laws which, it said, prevented such disclosure.
"Please note that the bank is not able to make a response on the particular issues relating to its licensee, based on the confidentiality provisions contained in the BOJ Act," said Robin Sykes, senior legal counsel.
However, Sykes said the Financial Investigations Division was the designated authority to which the bank should report, "where either (a) the amount of the cash transaction in question exceeds the threshold prescribed by law, or (b) the transaction is considered suspicious (i.e., it is reasonably suspected that the transaction is related to money laundering).
Mrs. Christie was the subject of the cover story in the Outlook magazine, that was published in The Sunday Gleaner on January 23, 2005.
FirstCaribbean cannot say who is being investigated, but it is obliged, under the Money Laundering Act of 1998, to "make a report to the designated authority" any cash transaction involving US$8,000 or more, or its Jamaican equivalent. The Trafigura 'gift' to the PNP, transferred to the account of CCOC Associates, is several times more than the amount which requires the bank to make a report to the designated authority. Sub-section (5) of the act said that failure to comply is an offence for which the bank can be convicted and fined $400,000.
The same act prevents the bank from disclosing to anyone that the report was made. The Sunday Gleaner put the questions to the Bank of Jamaica which also declined to answer, citing laws which, it said, prevented such disclosure.
"Please note that the bank is not able to make a response on the particular issues relating to its licensee, based on the confidentiality provisions contained in the BOJ Act," said Robin Sykes, senior legal counsel.
However, Sykes said the Financial Investigations Division was the designated authority to which the bank should report, "where either (a) the amount of the cash transaction in question exceeds the threshold prescribed by law, or (b) the transaction is considered suspicious (i.e., it is reasonably suspected that the transaction is related to money laundering).
Mrs. Christie was the subject of the cover story in the Outlook magazine, that was published in The Sunday Gleaner on January 23, 2005.