BRADES, Montserrat,– Prominent attorney-at-law Warren Cassell was Thursday sentenced to three and a half years in prison for concealing the proceeds of criminal conduct.
The sentence was handed down in the High Court by Justice Stanley John, a day after the lawyer was convicted by a nine-member jury.
Cassell, who represented himself during the trial, had been charged with one count of concealing the proceeds of criminal conduct contrary to section 33(1) (a) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1999, Caption 4.04.
Between January 1, 2007 and November 4, 2008, he concealed or disguised EC$855,380.54 (US$316,508.68) which was transferred from investors into the bank account of Cassell & Lewis Incorporated for the sale of land, which was, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the proceeds of criminal conduct.
According to the authorities, Warren Cassell dishonestly represented that he was a legitimate director of Providence Estate Limited and was legally entitled to sell land at the estate. He is said to have fraudulently filed a change of directors’ application with the Companies Registry regarding said estate and received funds into an incorporated business for the sale of land at Providence Estate for the purpose of avoiding prosecution for an offense or the making or enforcement of a confiscation order.
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