Family charged with laundering $1.5 million
Our first news story to begin the year is about a million dollar case of money laundering that has now taken on a new twist. It involves a family of five that had been arrested on New Years Eve for money laundering of over one and a half million dollars. But now several police officers are under investigation after one of the detainees simply vanished into thin air while in their custody. The disappearance of American baseball player, thirty-seven year old James Gerou, occurred sometime around three on the morning of New Year’s Day from a special detention room at the Queen Street Station. Gerou was detained along with his wife, thirty-three year old Melonie Coye, and her parents, Marlene and Michael Coye on New Year’s Eve night. The fifth person is Jude Coye.
This followed a raid at their home at twelve Johnson Street in Belize City in which police discovered the cash, exact amount one million five hundred fifty-seven thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine dollars. It was stashed inside a suitcase which was in one of the bedrooms.
That search was preceded by another one at the family business, Moneygram, a money transfer service on Mahogany Street. When police showed up to search the business, they seized documents and computer software they believe could support the money laundering charge they have laid against the family.
The police operation came weeks after a joint effort by the Financial Intelligence Unit, local police and Interpol led the police to a plan that one of the accused was about to change and transport the money to the U.S earlier this week. However, that never materialized.
Police sources to News Five say that Melanie Coye’s husband, James Gerou told them that the money was his salary which he collected upon getting drafted on a baseball team in the U.S. Meanwhile, Jude Coye, a car dealer by profession, reportedly left the country just two days before the raid occurred and police suspect he may have had undeclared U.S currency in his possession as well. He has been charged before with Obtaining Property by Deception after he reportedly collected monies for vehicles he failed to provide. Just before the courts closed this afternoon, Melonie, Marlene and Michael were charged with Money Laundering before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie. Following their very late arraignment Melonie and her attorneys, Dickie Bradley and Arthur Zaldivar, spoke to the media.
Marion Ali
“What’s one point five million dollars doing inside your home?”
Melonie Coye, Charged with Money Laundering
“Well, like I said I was at the office all day long and my parents have had some funds accumulated over time that they put up because we were supposed to deposit some of it. We have been depositing some of the funds but I was away also. Prior to this incident, I was on vacation, when I came back I had to pick up some funds to deposit into the accounts but I didn’t have time because it has been very busy during the month of December.”
Dickie Bradley, Attorney for Coye Family
“There is no law that you can’t keep your money. This has gone to the Supreme Court already, Marion, in terms of officers of law enforcement agencies finding Belizeans with large amounts of money. In fact, in the streets of Belize City the police stops somebody and they have wah lee three thousand or five thousand, they take it away and take it over to Income Tax and they steal those people’s money. It’s a legalized theft because truth of the matter is you don’t pay income tax until it’s over twenty thousand dollars, not little small money like that.”
Marion Ali
“But isn’t it the law that you should declare—once it’s over ten thousand dollars, the law is that you should declare that amount.”
Dickie Bradley
“That’s not the law; that is if you are bringing money into the country or if you go to one of the commercial banks or you just go and deposit over ten thousand dollars. You go and say this is what I have for my business today. They have a legitimate licensed business that has been operating in this country for years. There’s nothing illegal. It might not be a safe thing to do, but there’s nothing illegal about keeping your money in your house. I wish they would ask me to keep that amount of money in my house, I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
Marion Ali
“What’s the way you operate your business, is this something you normally do or…?”
Melonie Coye
“No, we don’t normally do it. It is a festive time of year, Christmas time and like I said, we were away.”
Marion Ali
“This has never happened before?”
Melonie Coye
“No, no, no. it was unfortunate that somebody targeted us to say something like that.”
Marion Ali
“The information we picked up is that Interpol along with the FIU and local authorities have been monitoring the company, it’s operations, the movements.”
Melonie Coye
“We haven’t received any notification, anything about that at all.”
Dickie Bradley
“Interpol can’t monitor nobody suitcase in your house, that bogus!”
Marion Ali
“No operation or…”
Dickie Bradley
“No operation have fi do with suitcase inna yoh house. Interpol can’t…dat bogus. Some competitor who knows they are very successful is trying to make bad and in fact the information the police went along with their warrant was that they were look for large sums of U.S. currency. This had nothing to with—in fact, they have withdrawn big amounts of money from the banks in order to pay their customers. There is a basic ceiling, for example, that you can send nine thousand U.S. dollars by Moneygram into Belize. One Belizean can go and get eighteen thousand U.S. Belize; it’s a big business. That’s how people are sending money to the country so that we can stay afloat. It is not illegal for anybody to have money under their firehearth, under the mattress, inna di suitcase; anywhere, it is not safe but it is not illegal and no Interpol can’s come here and bring no information against the Coye family because there is none; that is bogus. That tip-off was made bad by competitors as far as the Coyes are concerned and that is what they have instructed us.”
Marion Ali
“But this directive came from the D.P.P. right? When is money laundering, money laundering?”
Dickie Bradley
“Money laundering, under the laws of Belize, is that a person has engaged in illegal and criminal activity and the money is the proceeds of that. It’s ridiculous that on the thirty-first day of December some criminal activity took place somewhere and that is why they have the money. That’s absolutely—dat noh even mek sense. That does not even make sense.”
Marion Ali
“Will you guys be countersuing for anything?”
Dickie Bradley
“Let’s deal with it one at a time. They took away the computers out of the office, they have a problem to start up back their business. You could quickly download what is in the computer and give them back their computer. What’s the big deal fi take away all their things like that. Interpol never have anything until they took the computers and they obviously neva have anything because it’s the same charge that they came with.”
Marion Ali
“I understand that they detained your boyfriend or husband and he disappeared.”
Melonie Coye
“No, no, no, nothing like that. That’s wrong information.”
Marion Ali
“Where is your husband?”
Melonie Coye
“He’s at home, he’s at home. He’s actually my common-law.”
Dickie Bradley
“If they want him he can come to the court right now.”
Marion Ali
“He wasn’t even charged?”
Melonie Coye
“He wasn’t charged.”
Dickie Bradley
“We didn’t even see his name on the charge sheet, first time. Nobody said anything to us.”
Arthur Zaldivar, Attorney for the Coye Family
“The person that we are talking about right now, James Gerou went to the police station voluntarily and left the police station voluntarily. Nobody at anytime sought to detain him at the police station; neither the C.I.B., the C.I.U., nor the patrol branch and I believe if you spoke the persons at the patrol branch who took the persons that were detained on the first of January, you will find that there is no record of James Gerou being detained there. Now we heard after the fact, that he was wanted and by no means is he seeking to be a fugitive. He is basically ready and prepared to come in at anytime to answer to the charged because again these charges are false and these charges will be successfully defended in court. We have no problem with that.”
Despite arguments by the prosecution to have bail denied on grounds that the accused people might interfere with the ongoing investigation and pose a flight risk, their attorney, Dickie Bradley, convinced the court that there was insufficient evidence against his clients in order for bail to be denied. All three: mother, father and daughter were offered and met bail of fifty thousand dollars each on the condition that they report to the Clerk of Court every Monday and they must also surrender all their travel documents. The Coye family will return to court on February fourth.
