NEW YORK, NY. -- The spotlight was yesterday shone on the Caribbean islands of The Bahamas as a Quebec investment banker pleaded guilty in a New York court to laundering US$20,000 of illicit money through the island.
Martin Tremblay, of Saguanay, Que., pleaded guilty Monday to one count of laundering under a plea deal reached with prosecutors. They in turn agreed to dismiss the more serious charge of laundering $1 billion in profits from narcotics trafficking and a host of other illicit activities.
Tremblay should face a sentence of between 70 and 87 months in jail when he comes up for sentencing on Feb. 13th. And he could be fined between US$12,500 to US$125,000.
Tremblay has initially pleaded not-guilty to January charges that he used his Bahamas-based investment services company, Dominion Investments Ltd., to launder $1 billion in illicit assets. He "was captured as a result of an undercover sting operation conducted by the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force," the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
Immediately after the US authorities acted against Tremblay, the Bahamas Financial Investment Unit moved swiftly to freeze a large number of bank and securities accounts in The Bahamas associated with Tremblay and Dominion.
The Securities Commission, with the assistance of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, seized books and records of the company to prevent any further business being transacted, officials said earlier this year in an effort to insist that “Anti-money laundering procedures in The Bahamas are rigorous and are enforced.”
Dominion Investments (Nassau) Ltd. was registered as a Broker Dealer II by the Bahamas Securities Commission on December 11, 2001. Tremblay was named a managing director and 100 percent beneficial owner of Dominion.
