Attorney General Samuel Bulgin has defended Cayman’s efforts to recover the proceeds of crime, insisting the jurisdiction is doing everything it can to go after the ill-gotten gains of fraudsters and money-launderers.
His comments come after criticism from the Anti-Corruption Commission over years-long delays in enforcing a confiscation order against Canover Watson and amid heightened global pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on asset recovery.
Charles Jennings, the outgoing chair of the commission, described the failure to seize Watson’s assets, more than seven years after a six-figure confiscation order was made by the courts over his part in the CarePay health scandal, as “unacceptable”.
Speaking in Parliament on 5 Nov., Bulgin acknowledged those frustrations, but said confiscation matters are often complex and subject to lengthy appeals.
“The outgoing chair (Jennings) was unhappy about the pace at which matters are being dealt with,” he said. “There’s really no timeline within which to conclude these matters and they, by their nature, tend to be protracted.”
Jennings had suggested the failure to recover money from Watson almost a decade after his conviction risked making Cayman look “incompetent”.
He also questioned why further action had not been taken to seize Watson’s assets in relation to a second conviction in connection with a global football finance fraud.
Bulgin insisted work was continuing and was not a lost cause.
“We are confident that, at some stage, there will be resolution,” he said. “Maybe not as quickly as the former chair would have liked, but there will be a resolution to the matter.”
Both Jennings and his predecessor at the commission, Gus Pope, had warned Cayman needs to do more to pursue confiscation orders against convicted criminals to maintain its good standing with international watchdogs.
Bulgin insisted Cayman was “quite aware” of its obligations under the Financial Action Task Force on asset forfeiture and recovery.
His comments came as the task force issued new global guidance urging countries to prioritise asset recovery. The Paris-based watchdog noted that more than 80% of jurisdictions are performing at only low or moderate levels of effectiveness, and called on governments to “act faster, search further and think bigger” when seizing criminal wealth.
The guidance highlights case studies that range from blockchain tracing of US$400 million in the United States to funds supporting victims in Switzerland and even an orphanage in Mongolia. FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo said recovering stolen wealth “demonstrates that justice systems work” and “sends a clear message: crime will not pay”.
Related Videos
Why is it that our senior officials always resort to deflective or defensive mode when official and statutory processes find them lacking?? It’s a juvenile and disgusting habit.
Eat some humble pie and try to address the shortcomings or failures. You’re not in those high-paying jobs to be sacred cows or prima donnas.
You work for the public!!