By Nelson A. King
The US Department of Justice
(DOJ) says that a former
Minister of Industry and elected
member of Parliament of Barbados
was sentenced on Tuesday
to two years in prison for
his role in a scheme to launder
bribe payments from a Barbadian
insurance company through
bank accounts in New York.
The DOJ said Donville Inniss,
55, a US lawful permanent resident
who resided in Tampa, Fl.,
and Barbados, was convicted
by a federal jury of two counts
of money laundering and one
count of conspiracy to commit
money laundering on Jan. 16,
2020.
According to the evidence
presented at trial, in 2015
and 2016, Inniss took part in
a scheme to launder into the
United States about $36,000
in bribes that he had received
from high-level executives of
the Insurance Corporation of
Barbados Limited (ICBL).
In exchange for the bribes,
Inniss leveraged his position
Caribbean L 8 ife, MAY 7-13, 2021
as the Minister of Industry
to enable ICBL to obtain two
insurance contracts from the
Barbados government to insure
over $100 million worth of government
property.
The defendant’s
sentence today
reflects the
seriousness of his
crime
To conceal the bribes, the
DOJ said Inniss arranged to
receive them through a US
bank account in the name of his
friend’s dental company, which
had an address in Elmont, New
York.
“Donville Inniss engaged in a
bribery and money laundering
scheme to line his own pockets
at the expense of the people of
Barbados,” said Acting Assistant
Attorney General Nicholas L.
McQuaid of the Justice Department’s
Criminal Division.
“International corruption
undermines trust in governments,
threatens our national
security, and prevents the free
market from functioning fairly
for law-abiding people and
companies,” he added. “Today’s
sentence sends a strong message
that the department is
committed to prosecuting corrupt
officials, like Inniss, who
seek to use the US financial
system to hide their bribe payments.”
Acting US Attorney Mark J.
Lesko of the Eastern District of
New York said that, “in accepting
bribes and laundering the
payments through banks on
Long Island, Inniss not only
abused the public trust that
was placed in him by the people
of Barbados, he also stained
the US banking system with
the proceeds of his corrupt
scheme.
“The defendant’s sentence
today reflects the seriousness
of his crimes,” he said.
In addition to the prison sentence,
the court also ordered
Inniss to pay $36,536.73 in forfeiture,
the DOJ said.
Former Barbadian government minister Donville Inniss.
Photo by George Alleyne
Ex-Barbados minister jailed
for laundering bribes in NY
UN
CK
No health insurance? We can help. With
NYC Care, you can address your health
care needs at NYC Health + Hospitals
facilities citywide regardless of your
immigration status and ability to pay.
LO
Enroll in NYC Care and make
an appointment today!
1-646-NYC-CARE
nyccare.nyc
your right to
health care before
you get sick