BELIZE CITY, Mon. Jan. 15, 2018– Last Tuesday Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, signed off on an extradition request for attorney Andrew Bennett, who is wanted in the United States for allegedly facilitating a money laundering scheme.
Today, Amandala has been reliably informed that on Wednesday, Bennett will appear before Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser, who will determine his fate after hearing evidence from the Office of the Solicitor General, which is assisting the United States government.
Last month word of the extradition request surfaced and it was alleged that Bennett was caught in a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
He reportedly met with an undercover agent to discuss how to launder drug proceeds. The undercover agent pretended to represent a Colombian and Puerto Rican drug trafficking organization that needed to launder drug money.
Bennett allegedly told the agent that he could set up some shell companies through which those monies could be laundered.
In May 2015, Bennett reportedly collected US $250,000 from the agent during a meeting at Riverside Tavern in Belize City.
Bennett then allegedly took US $50,000 as commission and wired the remainder to accounts in Atlanta, New York and Puerto Rico.
Bennett has denied the claims made against him.