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Coye family arraigned on 1.5 million dollars money laundering charge

GeneralCoye family arraigned on 1.5 million dollars money laundering charge
Three members of a prominent business family have apparently run afoul of the law. On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2008, police conducted an operation at their place of business, the Moneygram office, located at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Mahogany Street. All the company’s records and computer equipments were taken as evidence by police. From the office, the cops then moved to the family’s Johnson Street home, from which they removed the sum of $1,557, 789 in Belize currency. The money was in various denominations.
 
Following the police raid, three members of the Coye family were arrested and charged with the offence of money laundering – Melonie Coye, 33; her mother, Marlene Coye, 55; and Michael Coye, 61, Melonie’s father and husband of Marlene. They appeared late this afternoon in the #1 Magistrate’s Court of Chief Magistrate, Margaret Gabb-McKenzie, where they all pleaded not guilty to one count of money laundering.
 
The family contends that the unusually large amount of cash that police found in their home was legitimate money having to do with the various companies that the family operates. But the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) did not buy their story and hence the raid, arrest and consequent money laundering charge.
 
The Coye family is being represented by attorneys Dickie Bradley and Arthur Saldivar. The FIU did not make any representation in court this afternoon, but instead relied on the court’s police prosecutor, Police Sergeant Sanchez, to present their arguments opposing bail for the Coye family.
 
The prosecutor told the court that the matter before it is recent and it is a sensitive case. The investigation is ongoing, as it relates to computers and other devices that the defendants may tamper with and hamper the investigation into the case.
 
The prosecutor then mentioned James Garu, who is listed on the charge sheet but who was not brought to court.
 
Chief Magistrate Gabb-McKenzie then objected to the prosecutor’s reference to a person who was not before the court.
 
He ended his submission objecting to bail by telling the court that the defendants are business people and as such they are flight risks.
 
In opposing the objection to bail, Bradley told the court that: the police visited the business of a duly registered company in Belize and subsequently the home of the defendants, where the police found the money listed on the charge sheet. But they also removed the company’s records, along with several computers. Now one hour shy of forty-eight hours, the prosecutor is saying do not grant bail to the three accused, because the investigation is on-going as it relates to computers and other devices, he said.
 
The charges arose out of agents of the state, based on their investigation. There is no virtual complainant, Bradley added.
 
There is absolutely no reason to refuse bail to three citizens of Belize, he told the magistrate.
 
Following Bradley’s submission, the Chief Magistrate addressed the court, saying: “I would think that before a matter comes to court, some investigation must have been carried out. I don’t see how the computers or devices can be tampered with, because the defendants don’t have them.”
 
 “It is unfair for the prosecutor who works in the court to have to object to bail. The FIU would be in a better position to object, because they know about the investigation. Bail will be granted to all three defendants.”
 
Gabb-McKenzie then offered bail in the sum of $50,000 each to the three defendants, with one surety in the same amount. The bail condition is that they must surrender all travel documents to the court and they are to report to the Clerk of Courts every Monday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Failure to adhere to the condition of the bail will result in its confiscation.

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