Cuban businessman fined for not declaring cash at Customs

May 03, 2012 6:16 PM

PHILIPSBURG - A Cuban businessman based in Miami, Florida, received a NAf.-4,000 fine in the Court of First Instance, on Wednesday.

He was found guilty of having failed to declare US $21,028 in cash, on his arrival at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA).

St. Maarten currency import and export regulations state that local and foreign currency amounts exceeding NAf. 20,000 or its equivalent must be declared at Customs.

Prosecutor Gonda van der Wulp said Angel Arencibia Gallo had deliberately tried to circumvent currency regulations. The cash was divided between the man's wallet, the back pocket of his pants and his suitcase.

The Cuban businessman was also charged with money-laundering. The Prosecutor presented e-mail messages and telephone conversations as evidence that he had been involved in criminal activities, presumably people-smuggling.

For both charges, the Prosecutor requested six-month suspended sentences, together with two years' probation, and a NAf.-37,850 fine.

With his right arm in a cast and sling, due to an accident at the workplace that had rendered him unfit for work for a considerable period, Arencibia Gallo proclaimed his innocence.

He told Judge Monique Keppels that he had earned the money through his business and had not been aware of the stipulations concerning the import of cash money, but added that he was willing to pay a fine.

He claimed that there were no signs at PJIA informing travellers about currency regulations, which, he said, were also not provided on the Immigration disembarkation cards that are handed out to passengers during their flight to St. Maarten.

The South Florida regional manager of calling card company Blackstone said he was a regular visitor to St. Maarten, where he would shop for computers and other electronic devices for the company's branch in Antigua. He said he would typically bring amounts of approximately $12,500 in cash for his purchases here in St. Maarten.

He vehemently denied being involved in money-laundering or people-smuggling. "If that were the case, I would not have travelled from the United States to attend my trial here," Gallo said.

He was arrested on 28 March, and was released from detention four days later.

The Prosecutor found it dubious that the businessman seemed to have been "constantly fiddling around with cash." She also told the court that the suspect had provided different explanations about the money's source. Also the fact that he had been travelling with several mobile phones would be indicative of the man's involvement in crime, the Prosecutor said.

Attorney at law Shaira Bommel pleaded for her client's full acquittal. She claimed that her client had been unaware of Customs' stipulations concerning the import of money.

She said the money-laundering charges were based on "suggestive conclusions" of Police investigators.

Judge Monique Keppels also found money-laundering not proven. "There is insufficient proof that the money was obtained through crime," she said.

(The Daily Herald)