More money laundering charges brought against Coye family

Money laundering charges against businessman, Dean Fuller, were dropped today, but in the case of the Coye family, more charges were brought against them on Tuesday. The Coye Family—Melanie Coye, her husband James Gerou; parents Michael and Marlene; brother, Jude and their two employees: Dietrick Kingston and Athlee Matute—appeared in court and were read five charges of money laundering. The Coye family and their two employees pleaded not guilty to the charges and the case was adjourned to June thirtieth.

One of the attorneys for the family, Dickie Bradley, says that the charges are questionable because his clients, back in 2008, were only indicted for one count of money laundering and not five. Bradley also said that the period in which the prosecution claims the alleged money laundering occurred—that is; between October ninth, 2007 and December thirty-first, 2008—is contrary to the statements of the preliminary inquiry that stated December thirty-first only as the purported date of the crime.

In December of last year, the Coye case went to the Belize City Magistrate’s Court and Magistrate Kathleen Lewis ruled that a prema facie case was established by the Financial Intelligence Unit. As a result, the case was committed to the Supreme Court. The Coyes along with Kingston and Matute are accused of laundering over one-point-five million dollars.