Attorney says FIU is on a fishing expedition with Money Laundering Charges

arthur saldivar

The family that has been charged with laundering one point five million dollars briefly returned to court today.  Melonie Coye, her husband James Gerou; parents Michael and Marlene; brother, Jude and two employees were accused by the Financial Intelligence Unit after officers found the cash in suitcases at the Coye family home over a year ago. Since the case began, the business, Money Exchange International closed down and Melonie and James have since given birth to their first child.  This morning their attorney Arthur Saldivar said that the case in his opinion is nothing more than a fishing expedition.

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney for Coye Family

“The judge requested a pretrial review conference with the defense and the prosecution—not something usual for the criminal courts, but it is something that is within in the law to allow for the smooth administration of the courts in cases that involve complex issues. In this particular instance, the learned justice was concerned that there were numerous errors in the prosecutions’ indictment. After this long epic saga of an investigation, they weren’t able to pinpoint dates or crimes that they are making allegations to have the Coye Family answer to. In relation to those things, they’ve been asked to go back to the drawing board and asked to come with something better than a fishing expedition because that is the basis that they have right now. Those aren’t the words of the judge, they are my own. Certainly, because of the wide scope that they used in relation to the drafting of their indictment, it seems to the judge that it seems too vague and too wide for it to be of any use.”

Trial for the Coye family begins on September sixteenth.