SC Dean Barrow Comments on CIB’s Large Amount of Cash at HQ

Barrow goes on the explained that having such a large amount of money on the premises is not illegal. He goes on to argue that there is nothing suspicious about it, given the company’s large operation. 

SC Dean Barrow, Attorney: “There’s nothing wrong inherently with these people keeping $10 million in cash on their premises. It is only that clearly the size of the quantity caused Inspector Young, he says, to feel that there has to be something wrong. That isn’t logical in my view but that is the basis on which he said he decided to hold the money. That well I’m here in connection with human trafficking, there is all this money and perhaps somehow this money is connected with human trafficking. He’s admitted you know, how long has it been now he’s not charged assault human trafficking all he can say is that the investigation is still continuing. Nobody has made a complaint, none of the employees have made a complaint that they are being trafficked, nothing of the sort but he says nevertheless I am continuing my investigation and that is why I want the money to continue to be seized and that is fine insofar as it goes. How does that allow the FIU to come and say oh the money should continue to be detained because we are conducting an investigation separate and apart from Inspector Young and our investigation involves tax evasion and money laundering? That’s not relevant to the detainer if I may call it, the person who detained the money and the person who has the burden of showing why he needs to keep the money in the context of his ongoing investigation. That person having said my ongoing investigation is only into human trafficking the evidence from miss Lopez and miss Sutherland and anybody else about any question, any suspicion of tax evasion in my view is absolutely not relevant and should not be admitted.” 

 Reporter: However is it or would you concede that having that amount of money is irregular cash, it’s irregular at a compound, that attracts suspicion. 

SC Dean Barrow, Attorney: “Well not at all. These people are saying look, the volume of sales that we do is such that to have $3 million in cash is in no way out of the ordinary. They claim to have a countrywide distribution network, their distributors are in the main Chinese businesses they’re saying that the bulk of their distributors operate on the basis of cash sales. The distributors in some cases would transfer the proceeds of their sales to the company electronically to the company’s bank account but in very many other cases they either deposit cash or they turn over the cash to the company. The company says look we can’t deposit our, original mandate with the bank, we can’t deposit more than $50,000 per day. They have now gotten they say a reprieve or an extension of that from the bank I think since maybe June or something like that where they are now able to go up to $100,000 a day but they are saying given the amount of cash that we get in on a weekly or daily basis we just can’t put it into the bank quickly enough and so there is that accumulation on our premises.”