Businessman Dean Fuller went to Belize City Magistrate’s Court yesterday to be arraigned on money laundering charges against his companies Fultec and Omni Networks. Magistrate Aretha Ford took the decision to pass the case over to the Chief Magistrate’s courtroom because it was related to the Coye money laundering trial which was already underway. Turns out though, all that was only a dress rehearsal for the real thing which took place today. Things changed dramatically this morning when Fuller re-appeared in court. The charges were re-introduced and the case was put before Magistrate Sharon Frazer. And while yesterday’s court documents had no specifics on how much money Fuller allegedly laundered, today the number was revealed and it is significant.
Both he and two companies of which he is the principal were arraigned before Magistrate Sharon Frazer on two counts of money laundering. In the first instance, Fuller was charged along with Fultec Systems for allegedly laundering six million, five hundred and eighty eight thousand, seven hundred and two dollars and twenty one cents. In the second charge, Fuller and Omni Networks Limited were charged with laundering, the same figure. Both offences allegedly occurred between October 7, 2007 and January 1, 2009. Fuller pleaded not guilty to the two money laundering charges and was released on bail $100,000.00 plus one surety in the same amount.
Interestingly, unlike the other accused seven persons in the Coye’s $1.5 million money laundering case, there was no conditions set to Fuller’s bail. While the others who are accused of money laundering had to post a $50,000.00 bail and surrender all travel documents and report to the clerk of courts, no such stipulations was applied to fuller. In the proceedings, Fuller is being represented by attorney Michael Peyrefitte who explained to us that it’s a whole new case against his client – and while he knows how much Fuller is accused of laundering, he still doesn’t know how or under what corporate body the laundering is alleged to have occurred.
Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney for Dean Fuller
“The crown withdrew the charges from yesterday and instituted new charges this morning. But the only real difference is that they now have put a figure on the amount that in their view Mr. Fuller was involved with concerning some illegal transaction which is in excess of about $6 million. The court made it very clear today based on their information that the Coyes are being tried in front of one Magistrate and Mr. Fuller is being tried in front of a separate Magistrate. That will indicate to me that there is no intention to join the matters, to me at least, and on the charge itself there is no link between Mr. Fuller and the Coyes and Moneygram as the charge itself and I have to go by the charge.”
Jules Vasquez,
He is however being charged as the master agent for Moneygram. Is that what has caused these charges to arrive?
Michael Peyrefitte,
“No he’s being charged along with Omni Networks Limited and Fultec Systems and it is very vague as to how these transactions occurred that they are accusing him of. All the charge says is that he was engaged along with Fultec and Omni Networks, directly or indirectly in transactions involving property, $6.5 million or there about, the charge actually says that, that is proceeds of crime knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe the same to be the proceeds of crime. So they can be talking about anything here, not necessarily the Moneygram. As far as I am concerned, Moneygram is not in the picture, that is not on the charge.”
Jules Vasquez,
But common sense would suggest
Michael Peyrefitte,
“Right there you are wrong. The court doesn’t operate on common sense, the court operates on the charge and the evidence relating to that particular charge. It may very well turn out that the evidence is the same but I cannot suppose that. I deal with what’s on the paper.”
And while Peyrefitte could not comment on the involvement of Fuller’s Moneygram master agency which was owned and operated by Omni Networks, two persons listed as shareholders and directors are distancing themselves from that company’s involvement with Moneygram. Ruth Esquivel, a former Omni employee who owns six of the company’s 14,000 issued shares said she got the shares in December of 2006 in lieu of a Christmas bonus. At the time Omni was only in the e-pin business and had not started with its Moneygram agency. Esquivel sent us an email saying she’s earned seventeen dollars in dividends from her shares since 2006.
It’s hardly anything, but it’s still more then Fred Shyu says he got. Unlike Esquivel, Shyu owned a nice chunk of shares: he invested twenty five thousand dollars and got 250 shares for it. He told us the initial investment was made sometime after 2002 when the company was involved in the e-pin systems and since then he hasn’t gotten any return at all on his investment. He today showed us a letter he wrote to Omni Networks saying that he hasn’t received any dividends nor any information on the activities of the company. In his letter, Shyu notes that the company has been involved in areas other than e-pins. And with that, he says “in light of these reports and given my non involvement in the company it seems prudent for me to now sell my interest in the company.” He asks Omni to buy back his shares.
It’s of note that while Shyu and Esquivel are listed in the companies register as directors both of them told us that they are not and have never been directors, nor have they attended a directors meeting. It’s quite a web, but while Fuller’s arrest has taken center stage in the investigation, the original money laundering investigation, the case against the Coye family was also supposed to proceed today – but it didn’t. Instead, there were two important developments in that case which played out in the courtroom of Senior Magistrate Dorothy Flowers.
The charge against one of the accused, Ernest Raymond Jr. was withdrawn by the Financial Intelligence Unit, because as it turned out, they have no evidence against Raymond. The other major development in the case is that the FIU has now retained attorney Antoinette Moore as its special prosecutor for the case against the accused money launderers. The adjournment date for both cases has been set to the 24th September.
