By Editor-July 9th, 2023.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has announced the inaugural appointment of his country’s first Coordinator for Caribbean Firearms Prosecutions.
He disclosed that Michael Ben’Ary – a very experienced Department of Justice Prosecutor, would serve in the role.
Blinken spoke last week at the beginning of discussions with CARICOM Heads of Government.
In announcing Ben’Ary’s appointment, the United States Secretary of State explained that his country and CARICOM were working to address the shared priority of stemming the rising tide of violent crime.
Blinken observed that violent crime was devastatingly impacting communities across the region, especially young people, hurting local businesses, undercutting foreign investment, and eroding citizen trust in their governments.
He noted that last July, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
It included new federal provisions that increase criminal penalties to up to 15 years in jail for traffickers, straw purchasers.
“This is a tool that’s vital for holding accountable those who smuggle U.S. arms to the Caribbean,” the United States Secretary of State explained.
In addition, he said the United States supported the creation of CARICOM’s new Crime Gun Intelligence Unit, which is improving information sharing among law enforcement agencies and strengthening the capacity of countries to investigate gun-related crimes.
Last month, United States Vice President Kamala Harris said the Joe Biden administration was committed to disrupting firearms trafficking in the Caribbean.
The investigation resulted in criminal charges being brought against the third-highest ranking executive at UBS, two former UBS bankers, a Liechtenstein banker, a Swiss attorney, and 16 former UBS clients by April 2010.
Michael Ben’Ary has a background in dealing with tax evasion, and was involved with a prosecutorial team that investigated money-laundering in Switzerland resulting in criminal charges being brought against the third-highest ranking executive at UBS, two former UBS bankers, a Liechtenstein banker, a Swiss attorney, and 16 former UBS clients.
After the February 2009 deferred prosecution agreement, the IRS announced a six-month program to encourage Americans to voluntarily disclose the existence of their secret offshore bank accounts. In exchange for coming forward, the IRS agreed to reduce penalties and to not recommend prosecution of the taxpayer.
As a result, more than 14,000 taxpayers contacted the IRS, repatriated billions of dollars to the United States and came into tax compliance. In an average year, fewer than 100 individuals take advantage of the IRS’s voluntary disclosure program.
“I can’t recall any cases in which the government has made successful inroads with offshore banking,” said Roger Stefin, an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida. “This was a very innovative team of prosecutors.”
Sources: St. Lucia Times, CARICOM, servicetoamericamedals.org, news agencies.
