When the Coye family moneygram case broke at the start of 2009, it made big news when thirty three year old businessman, Ernest Raymond, Jr. was allegedly found in a car with a trove of money laundering related documents in the trunk.
He was charged with the not much used offence of "concealing documents or materials which are, or likely to be relevant to an investigation into money laundering."
Well, that little intrigue is over, as he was acquitted of the charge today in the #2 Magistrates court. Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser, in her summation of the case, said that there is no evidence that Raymond had knowledge and was in possession of the documents that were found in the trunk of a white 4 door Ford Escort car on January 2nd, 2009. She said the evidence was that Raymond was found near the car, not in the car and that the car belonged to Melonie Coye. She said there is no evidence that Raymond was concealing the documents because concealing would have required some action on his part.
She also said that there is no evidence before the court that the documents were relevant to an investigation into money laundering.
In addition, according to the evidence, Raymond was not cautioned by the police when the documents were found in the car. In conclusion, Magistrate Fraser said the prosecution has not proved its case and so finds Raymond not guilty. Raymond was represented by Attorney, Dickie Bradley. The prosecution was represented by attorneys, Antonette Moore and Mikhail Arguelles of the Financial Intelligence Unit.
