Taxpayers to pay over $1M after Customs loses boat seizure case
The BVI Customs Department has been ordered to pay local businessman Malcolm Maduro more than $1 million in damages, after his boat was seized following a drug-related incident and kept for years.
The High Court awarded Maduro, who operates Sunshine Power Boat Rental, $1,031,760 for lost income, along with $7,500 in aggravated damages and $24,000 in exemplary damages.
That brings the damages to $1,063,260, with interest and a portion of Maduro’s legal costs also to be paid, meaning the government’s final bill will be even higher. The dispute dates back to October 27, 2019, when Maduro rented his boat, MV New Life, to a customer. The vessel later became involved in a high-speed chase with police and was eventually beached on Virgin Gorda.
Passengers aboard the boat were arrested for possession of drugs, and Customs seized the vessel. However, the court noted that Maduro was never charged with any offence in connection with the incident. Maduro began asking for his boat back shortly after it was seized and later made repeated requests for its return.
He eventually took Customs to court in March 2020, claiming that the department had wrongfully kept his vessel and caused him to lose substantial income from his boat rental business. The court was highly critical of Customs’ handling of the matter, finding that although authorities initially had a reason to detain the boat, they failed to take the necessary legal steps to continue holding it.
“The silence and inaction on the part of the defendant (Customs) was loud,” the judge said in court documents obtained by BVI News.
The judge also pointed to evidence alleging “improper, high-handed, oppressive and abusive” conduct by Customs. Maduro told the court that losing his main vessel significantly reduced his business income and caused him financial hardship and mental anguish. The court calculated his lost income using a charter rate of $1,200 per day, while making deductions for expenses and periods when the boat would not reasonably have been operating.
In addition to the damages, Customs was ordered to pay 60 percent of the prescribed legal costs, as well as applicable interest.
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All these inept persons in high places within government. We need stop that who you for and related to culture. Leading this country steady off the cliff. $mil is expensive price for stupidity. As usual the people who make the dumb decisions will not be reprimanded cause who they for or related to. Add this case to the 5 mil BOA and 2.5 mil to Jamaica.
If only people were smart enough, the government and all them would be scraping for money for the amount of things ppl can sue them over right here in the BVI for all kinds of things that they decide to not look at or care for, on top of having family in positions wa know nothing about anything lol
That’s what you call a good “cleaning”
WHO IS MALCOLM. LAWYER
so all i gotta do is run drugs and if i get catch say my asset was stolen and sue the government so even if the drug seized i going get back some kinda money
plus dpp does lose almost every serious case so those and board will get off do try again
economy bad criminals winning and politician thiefing and honest hard working tax payers who dont want to go jail and want to be on the straight and narrow taking all the blows
how is this fair?
where is the karma?
where is the justice?
why are we afraid to march?
we need more cut throat prosecutors would tell the court he could khms. pull up his past related charges, have him show a paper trail of how this business operated and boat in question purchased.
I always wondered why Police/Customs always holding up persons property for years upon years.
and Z will live happily after……LOL
If he is smart, he will keep her out of it before she go spend it on her other men!!! trust me
Heads need to roll for this @$$!$#ne$$
Fire the whole damn AG chambers fire them
Malcolm flew in KC to fight this case kudos to him
1200 per day wow
How many points were taken for maintenence and repairs
I would think a min of 10 percent overall would cover it
I am no means an expert at all
I’m thinking a boat that been rented and abused regularly we are taking about a rental right
This boat would likely be auction d off at 5 to 6 years
Somehow I think the court was generous with their award because of a@%holes with bigger egos than regular law enforcement