And in other court news....39 year old Dutch businessman Dharmendra Tekchand
Motwani was busted at the Phillip Goldson International Airport on Saturday
morning where he was attempting to leave the country with US$25,000 in cash
and more than a quarter of a million U.S. dollars in checks – all of which
he didn’t declare.
At around 10:30, Motwani was about to enter the departure lounge to board an
American Airlines flight to Miami. But security personnel stopped him because
when the black Samsung laptop bag that he was carrying was scanned – they
noticed that there were two plastic bags in it. They opened the bag in front
of him and found the cash. It added up to US$25,255 along with checks totalling
US$268,841.34. The money was handed over to the Financial Intelligence Unit
and Motwani was arrested.
He was charged with attempting to leave Belize with more than the prescribed
amount without first declaring it to the authority. He appeared alongside his
attorney Ellis Arnold in court today and pled guilty. He was fined $30,000 which
he paid forthwith.
And if you are wondering what he was doing walking around with US$25,000 in
cash? Well he says he was here on a four day vacation and that he collected
the money on behalf of “Ganesh” – a company that conducts
legitimate business in the Free Zone. As for the checks, he says he was taking
them to Curacao to deposit for friends. Arnold noted in court that the Financial
Intelligence Unit was satisfied with Motwani’s explanation and had made
no application for forfeiture.
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