Court Ruling on Bahamians Set For Next Week

Bahamian nationals Rohn Knowles and Kelvin Leach remain in pretrial detention at the Belize Central Prison tonight.  The pair of stockbrokers, both employees of Titan International Securities, was expected in court on Wednesday for a bail application but did not show up because a removal order had not been prepared.  Despite the adjournment, a case for their extradition to the United States is being put together by the Solicitor General since they are wanted in New York to stand trial for a number of charges related to securities fraud.  Earlier today, we spoke with Attorney General Wilfred Elrington who gave a brief update on the matter.

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Attorney General

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington

“I was informed yesterday afternoon by the Solicitor General, that she was, at the time she was speaking to me, in the process of preparing arguments to be submitted to the courts by four o’clock yesterday on the issue as to whether bail should be granted to the two accused persons or the two persons who are wanted under the request for extradition by the United States.  So that those two persons are before the court, apparently they are in detention and their counsels have apparently made applications for bail for them and that issue is being debated before the court. I imagine the court is going to give a ruling on it sometime in the week coming.”

Knowles and Leach are named along with four others, including Belizean businessman Andrew Godfrey, in a federal indictment for the laundering of half a billion U.S. dollars.