08th June 2016

"Covering new grounds that have never been touched before is what I thrive to do daily as a lawyer", said the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Anthony Armstrong while commenting on a case that he won, which will see a sum of US $30,000 deposited into the country's treasury.

The DPP won the case against British Virgin Island national Luke Joseph, under the Proceeds of Crime Act in the High Court in October 2015. The funds are now expected to be wired to Antigua and Barbuda from Tortola B.V.I

The win according to Armstrong is the first of its kind to occur at the high court level in the region. "It is very rare: there has only been one other such case in the region at the Magistrate level, but not the high court. These matters are very tedious and technical and pose problems for law enforcement agencies in terms of carrying out the investigation. The legislation is very draconian.

Luke Joseph was convicted of cocaine possession and was ordered to pay $80,644 to the state after the court found that he benefited from his drug running operations. It was also determined that he had realizable assets, which could satisfy the confiscation order application made by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Anthony Armstrong.

During the case back in 2015 Justice Thom agreed with the DPP's arguments, that the defendant had benefited from his crime; that the benefit was the value of the cocaine worth $5.9 million dollars.

For More Information Contact:
Laurisa Francis
Tel: (268) 464-5348