Woman convicted of money laundering, friend acquitted

PHILIPSBURG--Nevis-born Coleen Novia Wattley (38) was found guilty by the Court of First Instance of having cashed no less than 51 false US postal money orders and travellers’ cheques at local banks and casinos between June and November 2006.

Her friend P.J.B. (40) of Jamaica, who allegedly had assisted her in the money laundering scheme, was acquitted for lack of convincing evidence.

Judge Rick Smid stated in his ruling, which was handed down recently, that he considered the Prosecutor’s case against Wattley proven, and sentenced her to a suspended prison sentence of one year with three years’ probation. She also will have to perform 240 hours of community service and will have to pay US $6,000 in damages to RBTT Bank.

Prosecutor Paul Mooij had asked the judge during the court hearing on December 12, 2006, for an 18-month prison sentence, 10 of which to be suspended, with three years’ probation and $6,000 in damages.

Wattley had also been convicted for forgery in August 2004 while she was working as a cashier at RBTT Bank. She told Judge Smid this time she had cashed the cheques for a friend in Spain she had met during chat sessions on the Internet. This friend had told her she had an online art store and was encountering problems with cashing gift cheques. Wattley decided to help her friend, stating she had had no idea the cheques were false.

Mooij said this scheme had links with Nigeria, a country that is notorious for all kinds of Internet schemes. He said Wattley had become involved in this case because she was in deep financial problems due to a previous conviction requiring her to pay damages to her former employer.

Attorney-at-law Monique Hofman had stated her client was the victim of a professional scheme and had only wanted to help.

The Prosecutor was of the opinion that P.J.B. also should have known that something was wrong when she cashed 11 cheques at different locations on behalf of her friend Wattley. For these alleged crimes he considered a suspended sentence of six months with two years’ probation, 240 hours of community service and a $500 fine to be appropriate.

Attorney P.E. van Zon had requested acquittal for P.J.B., who he said had not been aware of the ins and outs of the operation.

The judge said P.J.B. had acted rashly in cashing the cheques for her friend, but he did not consider money laundering convincingly proven. He therefore decided to acquit her.

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/j193/Money193.html