55 year-old Arab businessman, Suresh Jaisinghnai dodged jail time today when he came up out of his pocket and paid a $25,000 fine after he was taken to court for failure to declare funds.
According to the Financial Intelligence Unit, Customs busted Jaisinghnai as he was attempting to board a plane with $9,276 US in cash, which he did not declare.
This is against the Money Laundering and Terrorism Act of Belize which makes it mandatory to declare cash over $10,000 Belizean Currency.
He was just over $8,000 above that limit, and as a result, he was charged with failure to declare currency. He presented himself before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith today where he pleaded guilty to the offence, and was fined $25,000, to be paid forthwith because it was his first offence.
He wanted to dodge a 1 year prison sentence in default, and was able pay the entire fine upfront. With that, he was able to leave the court a free man, along with his now declared US currency, which he had tried to board the plane with.
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