On July 24, 2020, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York denied a motion for judgment of acquittal filed by Donville Inniss, a former member of the Barbados Parliament and former Minister of Industry in Barbados, following his conviction in January 2020 on one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of substantive money laundering.
Inniss’ conviction resulted from his participation in a scheme to launder $36,000 received from executives of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) in exchange for help obtaining government insurance contracts worth over $100 million, and for attempting to conceal the source of the bribes through the use of the New York bank account of a friend’s company.
The court rejected Inniss’ motion, finding that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient, and that there was substantial evidence presented at trial to show the illicit nature of the payments and the steps Innis and ICBL took to conceal them.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled for November 2020.