Account monitoring coming for drug dealers, drug $$ launderers
The government is seeking to implement surveillance legislation that will allow the Financial Investigations Agency (FIA) and the police to monitor the bank accounts of persons suspected or known to be involved in drug trafficking and drug money laundering.
This legislation is being introduced in the form of the proposed Drug Trafficking (Amendment) Act, 2023 that was recently introduced to the House of Assembly for debate and legislative approval.
An entire new section titled ‘Account monitoring orders’ is being inserted into the existing legislation as Section 39A.
Under the proposed bill, the police or the FIA will be empowered to request an account monitoring order from the court. If granted, the court would instruct any financial institution specified in an application to provide specific information to the Agency or a police officer.
The proposed bill states that, “a court may, on application made to it by the Agency or a police officer, make an account monitoring order if satisfied that the order is sought for the purposes of a drug trafficking or drug money laundering investigation, the tracing of drug trafficking or drug money laundering property is desirable for the purposes of the investigation, or the order will enhance the effectiveness of the investigation.”
Limitations
The bill also allows for the police or the FIA to request the order without the knowledge of the persons they are seeking to monitor. However, the bill proposes limitations on how long account-monitoring can take place.
The period specified in an account monitoring order shall not exceed 90 days beginning with the day on which the order is made.
The proposed bill also offers certain protections for the person being monitored and for the financial institutions where the account is held.
Subsection 12 in the new provisions says a statement made by a financial institution in response to an account monitoring order may not be used in evidence against it in criminal proceedings, except “in the case of proceedings for contempt of court; in the case of proceedings where the financial institution has been convicted of an offence; or on a prosecution for an offence where, in giving evidence, the financial institution makes a statement that is inconsistent with its statement relating to the account monitoring order.”
While this power of account monitoring currently exists in relation to investigations about terrorist financing, it does not exist in relation to drug trafficking and drug money laundering. The aim, therefore, is to streamline these powers for both terrorist financing, drug trafficking and drug money laundering offences to achieve appropriate effectiveness in the fight against these crimes, the bill explains.
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About time! I know some people head starting to hurt.
Wow!! Just WOW!!!
Forget the open garbage burning, sewage in the streets, schools a mess, Education down the shit hole, nothing for the youth to do in the BVI, all recreational facilities are dumps, standard of living borderline. But this is priority. This is only to appease those bigger agencies from bigger countries that cannot stand to see brown people with anything. I hope they also monitor the expats with the big yachts as well.
This will be a game changer
Good move!
Question: Why was human trafficking not added to the bill as well?
People account information is there business, first you want the police to walk in our homes as they see fit; NOW it’s our accounts!
invasion of privacy, matter of fact make every individual account transparent for everyone to see
@broom
Racist!
Will this apply to what’s left of West Bank?
April 28th 2022. Bvi was never the same, it hurts my heart to see we no longer that bvi. We had less & more loving, now we have more & less loving. Give me back when we had less
All the names on Mika list is a good start
they already have this information, they just want to be able to use this information in court to sieze the money
And you all will tell me the guy slow and not working? You all telling lie. You want him to move to fast and vikivi, well all that fast movement in the past only created a big old mess and mock! Take your time my friend I can see that you think and move accordingly. All the best and keep doing the work that will help all of us.
? rethink your statement, makes us think other wise.
is that these criminals don’t deal with financial institutions as most of their business is a cash business. The Police and FIA can monitor all the ‘acccounts’ they want but they will never find the 20 million in cash in duffel bags in the closet!
Understand ur frustration but u think expats needs investigating and not the locals. Hush yo arse cause you sound hurt. Time enough this place get a shake up. Much thanks to Andre Fahim he made it all possible. Little nice paradise yall wanna be spoiling.
People would just keep their money in a safe place. They don’t need to put it in a bank
Police State!
And how will they determine who is in the drug trade? Melee & hearsay or targeting & profiling
this is police state in the making.
Exactly
This approval should be done by court of law give the suspected drug dealer the opportunity to object and why..
Ask yuh mudda
Please add accounts of all elected officials, likely to find more suspicious activity than the drug dealers who simply hide it in the ground.
Are you involved or a beneficiary of the trade? Maybe you are a
Fireman….??
without a court order?
The people with lots of money to ‘wash’ already have ‘legal’ help, that of Lawyers, Accountants etc. to guide them along. Not sure what all the fuss is about. The only persons getting caught in this web are the idiots who would deposit $50K into an ice cream shop account.
When is the last time you saw a drug dealer in line at at bank….POLICE STATE…
I thought you were innocent until proven guilty in court. SMH
What about ALL forms of “crime”?
Often wondered how a person can claim being unemployed, no income and have very nice house, a go fast boat in the front yard along with the Range Rover to tow it. It’s taken the BVI government 60 years to see this ?
Tired of seeing drug dealers and their families claiming they have successful businesses and gave back to the youths and community!!!!
YOU MEAN LAUNDER THE MONEY BY SETTING UP THESE VARIOUS BUSINESSES AND PLACING FUNDS BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY!!
Hilarious
They want to monitor a cash only business? Wait what?
ID10T$
communism !!!!!!!
This is wrong…
I say consider you never know someone is a crminal but you hang out with them. Now the officerSSSS suspects you and they all has access to your account for 90 days.
Little did they know you have a lot of legal wealth perhaps inherited.
Next leak is so and so is pretending to be poor and has a lot of money.
Citizens privacy is no joke or thing to toss aside lightly. First its democracy, then its terrorism, next its drug trafficking.
c’mon, its a lot fairy tale boogey man excuses to monitor and control populations.
If you really suspect someone and have evidence take it to a judge and get a warrant……!
We also need an Unexplained Wealth Order – make people (of all races) prove where they got the money from – i.e. not drugs or corruption, or money-laundering, or anything else illegal. That will make some people stop stealing the people’s money if they can’t explain where they got all those trucks, boats, fancy cars and properties, etc.
Hmm@ I was trying hit like.
Different forms… D boyz better go look work now. Bvi tightening up the belt. Well UK. Thanks AF 1
Great question. Yeah, why wasn’t it addressed?
Your comment is a false equivilence. Legislative changes aren’t required to improve education, and deal with the burning of garbage at Pockwood. They require policy changes and action by the Premier and Cabinet. Contact your district rep and demand action, tell the candidates seeking your vote that this is a priority area for you.
The problem here is our political class have had their hands in the cookie jar for years, they have been robbing you of your birthright yet you defend them. Decent hardworking honest citizens should have no sympathy for criminals or want to help them launder their dirty money.
Ah, that’s where the Police Act comes in!
I hope this includes the politician accounts as well
How about some legislation on them gold chains on all those scooter boys that don’t have jobs??
There is money flowing in the BVI from somewhere. Probably not from the farmer/fisher-person government give away…
1st order of business who ever brought that legislation to the House WILL NOT BE REELECTED PERIOD! That’s the post.
You all remember a time when drug violence was between the dealer and criminals? Imagine you working FIA and cause dealers to lose money cause you aint minding your business. Then you got to drive home. How much you all going make it home? You all let those PALE freaks from UK set yourselves up for misery.