Bridgetown Store-Owner Forfeits Half of US$53,000 Attempting to Leave Island Without Permission

A Bridgetown store-owner who attempted to leave the island five years ago with US$53 000 (BDS$106 000) without the Central Bank’s permission has had to forfeit half of the amount in the High Court.

However, Justice Carlisle Greaves imposed no other penalty on the convicted man, Nigel Patrick Webb, after his sentencing hearing on Friday in the No. 3 Supreme Court.

Webb, of Bayview Avenue, Bayville, St Michael, had previously pleaded guilty to the charge that on March 26, 2019, without permission of the Exchange Control Authority, he attempted to export from Barbados to the United States of America amounting to US$53 000 in contravention of Section 25 Subsection 1(a) of the Exchange Control Act.

Principal State Counsel Neville Watson submitted that along with forfeiting half the seized amount, Webb should pay a $5 000 fine in three months or face one year in prison.

“This was a lot of money. We are not saying he could not take it. We are saying he did not get permission to do so. That is important, especially in these days of money laundering which can cripple a financial institution,” the prosecutor said.

But calling the offence “a victimless crime”, Webb’s attorney Lennox Miller agreed with the forfeiture of half the funds but insisted that no further fine should be imposed on his client. He said that since being charged, Webb was trying to keep his business afloat and suffering financially.

The businessman offered his apologies to the court, saying “I am sorry. I should have known better.”

According to the facts, police on duty at the Grantley Adams International Airport on the mentioned date, around 6:15 a.m., approached Webb as he came through the security checkpoint carrying a backpack and a small carry-on suitcase.

They told him they had information he had a large amount of US currency and that they had reason to believe that it was the proceeds of crime.

He consented to the search and the law enforcement officers found envelopes of cash in his backpack and carry-on luggage.

Asked to give an account, he said “I am a businessman and would normally travel with this amount of cash.”

Webb, who had been heading to the United States, admitted that he had not received the Central Bank’s permission to export the foreign currency and that he was not an authorised dealer of such currency.

He was taken to the police station and during the interview, he said that the funds were to be used to buy stock for his store, City Gear Boutique on Swan Street, and that he had accumulated the US money over time through the store and by purchasing it from other business people.

Acknowledging that it was a Barbadian practice to buy US currency from other citizens while travelling overseas, Justice Greaves said the pilfering or illegal export of such currency was a serious offence.

“Barbados has one of the strictest regimes of foreign currency control in the Caribbean…. As a result, it has caused persons to try to get around the law in order to get adequate foreign currency to do their business overseas but that is not an excuse.

The law is the law and you must follow it,” he stated.

The judge said it was necessary to weigh the defendant’s needs as well as the public’s interest. He said foreign currency must be controlled.

Justice Greaves then ordered half the seized sums be forfeited to the state and the remaining half returned to Webb immediately, in Barbados currency.

“No further penalties imposed,” he said.