Financial Crime World

Three-Year Money Laundering Investigation Nets Herstelling Family $4.1 Billion Charges

Guyana, Feb 10, 2023

A Herstelling family, including a taxi driver and his wife, have been hit with nearly 300 charges in connection with a money laundering case worth $4.1 billion after a three-year investigation by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Accused Persons and Charges

  • Kenneth Kellawan Ramnarine, his reputed wife Yvette Nalini Saroop, and their son Damien Brandon Ramnarine were arrested and charged for:
    • Operating as nominees for Chinese businesses
    • Facilitating tax evasions

Arrest and Court Appearances

  • The couple was arrested at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Feb 7, 2023, while attempting to leave for the United States of America (USA).
  • They appeared before the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Georgetown and Diamond/Grove Magistrates’ Courts, respectively.

Court Proceedings

  • Both magistrates remanded the trio in prison and set their next court dates for March 6, 2023.
  • Damien, who was absent during the initial court appearances, surrendered to SOCU on Thursday and made appearances before both magistrates.
  • He was also remanded to prison, with his next court appearance scheduled for March 17, 2023.

Charges Details

Violation of Anti-Money Laundering Act

According to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act Chapter 10:11 in Guyana, Kenneth and Damien are charged with attempting to conceal the illicit origin of funds through money laundering:

  • Section 3 (1) (a): they knowingly dealt with funds derived from criminal activities and later transferred the funds with the intention to hide the criminal origin.

Conspiracy and Facilitation

Yvette Nalini Saroop is separately charged with conspiracy and facilitation:

  • She allegedly conspired with her husband and son to launder the proceeds of crime.
  • She knowingly collaborated with her family to transfer funds, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the cash represented proceeds of crime.

Massive Transactions at Local Banks

The Guyana Police Force’s Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, disclosed that the trio had conducted multiple large transactions at several financial institutions in the country, raising suspicions of money laundering activities:

  • Most transactions were made through Kenneth’s business account, Ken’s Trading Enterprise.

Unsubstantiated Cash Deposits

Investigations revealed that the accused had sent over $3.7 billion in wire transfers and over $4.1 billion in local cash sums to 22 companies in China, claiming they were for importing raw materials to produce bio-degradable products:

  • Teams from the SOCU contacted several prominent businesses in Georgetown but found no evidence of these large transactions.
  • The SOCU carried out overt and covert investigations and operations, eventually leading to the evidence required to bring the charges against the family.

Denial of Financial Transactions

The SOCU contacted several prominent businesses in Georgetown, revealing that the accused had listed these businesses as sources of funds in the declarations they submitted to financial institutions. However, none of these businesses confirmed having carried out such large transactions with the accused family.