A US citizen was last week convicted in the St James Parish Court for concealment of criminal property and possession of criminal property after cash was found in women's wigs in his luggage at the airport in Montego Bay, St James. 

The Financial Investigations Division (FID) said in a release Tuesday that 30-year-old Kenardo Coke, a security guard of a New Jersey address in the US, was fined $500,000 on each offence or six months in prison.

The conviction follows the seizure of US$50,400 from Coke on April 10, 2021 at the Donald Sangster International Airport.

FID said an investigation resulted in Coke being charged with breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

The investigations also reportedly revealed Coke’s connection to lottery scamming activities based on the discovery of lottery scamming paraphernalia in his possession. FID said it is believed that the cash was the proceeds of that criminal activity. 

A court hearing is set for June 23, 2023 in respect of forfeiting the cash under Section 79 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), FID said on Tuesday.

In commenting on the case, the FID’s principal director of investigation, Keith Darien, noted:

The collaboration with the FID, the JCF and Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) in tackling money launderers who try to smuggle ill-gotten gains to our shores must be lauded. I thank our colleagues for their vigilance and dedication.

He said the decades-long collaboration has been strategically strengthened by the recent signing of MOUs with various agencies, including FID, JCA, JCF and others. 

“We are demonstrating to everyone that law enforcement agencies are committed to partnering to investigate and prosecute those persons who commit crime and will work assiduously to remove the benefit of such criminality,” said Darien.

He added: “In this case, the effectiveness of JCA in depriving criminals of their spoils may have prevented the acquisition of illegal arms or incidents of shooting and murders. We must also highlight the efforts of remittance agencies and our local banks in their robust due diligence processes, which make it increasingly difficult to transfer tainted funds.”