Gov’t seeking forfeiture of over $203M from businesswoman

JAMAICA GLEANER – THE Assets Recovery Agency is seeking the forfeiture of over $203 million dollars from businesswoman Lan Yan which it alleges she obtained by illegal means.
The agency has filed a pecuniary penalty order against her pursuant to section 5 of Proceed of Crime Act (POCA) in the Home Circuit Court.
The matter is to be heard on July 15.

Already, the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court Civil Division has granted an order for the forfeiture of $2,100,000.00 to the government from the businessman which were seized by the police in 2015.
That order was made on Thursday, June 14, by Senior Parish Judge Opal Smith.
At that time, her attorney Hugh Wildman indicated that his client plans to file an appeal.
The agency says the monies were cash seized on Thursday, April 30, 2015, when its personnel and members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Constabulary Financial Unit conducted a search operation at the businesswoman’s home.

It says the cash was found in four different locations of an upstairs bedroom hidden in black plastic bags.
When questioned by the police as to the source and intended use of the cash, she indicated that the cash was from her business and was intended to be used in her business.
The cash was seized by the police under POCA on the suspicion that it had derived from unlawful conduct.

The judge held that the businesswoman failed to effectively challenge the evidence presented by the agency and found that there was sufficient evidence upon which to conclude that the cash had been derived from unlawful conduct.
The search of her home arose out of an earlier operation by personnel from the police’s Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch and the Jamaica Custom’s Enforcement Unit on March 17, 2015.

On that day, the officers raided Kay’s Superstore Limited, a downtown-Kingston business owned and operated by the businesswoman.
The search resulted in the seizure of over 34,000 pairs of counterfeit footwear.
She was arrested and charged for multiple counts of unlawful use of trademark and on April 6, 2016, she pleaded guilty to the offences.

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