Sanctions 2025

JAMAICA Law and Practice Contributed by: M. Georgia Gibson Henlin CD and KC, Henlin Gibson Henlin

was obtained from unlawful conduct or was intended to be used in unlawful conduct. This was based on the circumstances of discovering USD36,000 hidden in shampoo bottles with the remainder found in the respondent’s handbag. The respondent admitted that the cash in her handbag came from a partner draw, but denied knowing about the hidden cash, claiming the luggage belonged to her sister’s boyfriend. The Court of Appeal set aside the Parish Court’s deci - sion that the cash found in the respondent’s handbag was not recoverable property. This was due to the Parish Court Judge failing to give proper weight to the entirety of the circumstances. Despite the respondent accounting for the money found in her handbag, which is below the statutory threshold, the circumstances in which the money was found must be analysed in their entirety. Firstly, the respondent gave limited or useless information to the source of the money found as she provided only the banker’s first name who provided her with the cash but not the bank itself. This could not be used to refer to an identifiable source. Secondly, the respondent made herself scarce during investigations and left three days after her arrival, which lead to the use of alternative methods of service for this trial. Her lack of interest in the seized money was evident as she did not challenge the forfeiture of the money and provided vague reasoning for leaving: “to deal with documenta - tion”. Lastly, new evidence revealed inconsistencies as she indicated to a source that her disinterest in the money (found in her handbag) stemmed from it not belonging to her. In conclusion, the case acts as a precedent for the enforcement of POCA in society and which assets should be deemed as recoverable. Alliance Investment Management Limited [2024] Although this case did not pass the lower court, it is instrumental in the development of the sanctions regime in Jamaica. In this matter, Senior Parish Court judge Chester Crooks upheld a no-case submission, dismissing 17 charges that were brought against the defendants for failing to file a threshold transaction report required under POCA Regulations.

Despite the FID claiming that the company was non- compliant, evidence indicated that the required reports were filed. This administrative error by the FID resulted in serious financial repercussions such as heavy fines on the company and its principals, which resulted in the company being sold. The case highlighted that in order for Jamaica to have an efficient sanctions regime, not only should proper laws and regulations be implemented on businesses and other individuals, but they must be properly monitored and governed. The system will not work if compliance is not super - vised correctly. 3.2 Future Developments Although Jamaica has been removed from the FATF Grey List, continuous work needs to be done to ensure it does not return to that position, and that it is removed from the European Commission’s list of high-risk countries. At the FATF plenary meeting in June 2023, Jamaica was found to be largely compli - ant with 37 of the 40 recommendations. The country’s next step would then be to improve on the outstand - ing recommendations which relate to: • implementing targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation; • implementing new technology, for example crypto - currency; and • improving/strengthening the non-profit sector. The government of Jamaica’s Socio-Economic Frame - work (2021–24) will continue to be worked on in keep - ing with Jamaica’s Vision 2030 plan. The framework includes plans of: • developing Supervisory Anti-Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Rules under the Banking Services Act (BSA) and the Bank of Jamaica Act (BOJA); • developing the methodology for and implementing risk-based supervision (prudential and AML/CFT) to all licensees on a phased basis. While this has begun in some sectors it has not been achieved in its entirety; and • amending the Bank of Jamaica Act to enhance its governance and autonomy.

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