Attorney General, Basil Williams has hired a United Kingdom-trained lawyer as his special adviser, a release from the AG Chamber has said.
Ms Tessa Oudkerk will include assisting the Williams, a Senior Counsel and also Minister of Legal Affairs in the execution of his functions in respect of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regime and his work relating to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the release stated. Oudkerk, pursued studies in law at the University of Trent and the Bar Professional Training Course at College of Law in the United Kingdom and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in November 2012 by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple of which she is a member. She was admitted to the Bar of Anguilla on 29th April 2015.

According to the AG Chambers Ms. Oudkerk approached the legal profession as a mature professional after obtaining a Master of Science Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the Ukraine in 1993. She worked as a manager at the National Data Management Authority for a period of three years and thereafter joined the University of Guyana where she lectured in Computer Science for a period of four years. While working at the University, she pursued a graduate diploma in education and served as an executive member to her alma mater, Queen’s College, providing voluntary teaching service. Thereafter, Ms. Oudkerk founded a learning centre which offered subjects including, CXC Computer Science, and Information Technology at CSEC and CAPE levels.

Ms. Oudkerk migrated to the United Kingdom where she worked as a teacher and pursued a post graduate diploma in marketing in Scotland. More recently, Ms. Oudkerk, worked in Anguilla B.W.I. for a Licensed Company Manager for two years as a Money Laundering Compliance and Reporting Officer. She is now certified by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS) as a specialist in anti-money laundering and financial crimes investigations. Ms. Oudkerk is a member of ACAMS and the United Kingdom chapter of ACAMS.