Former Minister of Barbados sentenced to two years for laundering bribes
A former Minister of Industry and elected member of Parliament of Barbados was sentenced 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.
Donville Inniss, 55, who had served as minister of industry in the Caribbean nation and as a member of its parliament, was convicted by a federal jury in January 2020, the department said in a statement.
Evidence presented at trial showed that in 2015 and 2016, Inniss took part in a scheme to launder into the United States approximately $36,000 in bribes he had received from executives of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited to help the company secure two government contracts, the statement said.
“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. Today’s sentence sends a strong message that the Department is committed to prosecuting corrupt officials like Inniss who seek to use the U.S. financial system to hide their bribe payments.”
“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, but he also stained the U.S. banking system with the proceeds of his corrupt scheme,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Mark J. Lesko of the Eastern District of New York. “The defendant’s sentence today reflects the seriousness of his crimes.”
In addition to the prison sentence, the court also ordered Inniss to pay $36,536.73 in forfeiture.
The FBI investigated the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also assisted in this matter. The department appreciates the cooperation provided by its law enforcement colleagues in Barbados during this investigation.
Assistant Chief Gerald M. Moody Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sylvia Shweder and David Gopstein for the Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire Kedeshian is handling the forfeiture aspects of the case.
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