The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A SUPREME Court judge has adjourned the sentencing of a Bulgarian man recently convicted by a jury of money laundering.  

Justice Bernard Turner said on Friday he would deliver Kostadin Karchav's sentencing on April 21 at 12.30pm, at which time he said he would have fully considered submissions from the Crown prosecutor Ambrose Armbrister and Karchav's attorney Stanley Rolle. 

Karchav, 39, faces up to 20 years in jail. He is facing three counts of money laundering concerning nearly $51,000 found in his Royal Bank of Canada account and the purchase of a Suzuki Swift and an iPhone 6 from the proceeds of crime. 

On Monday, a jury, following Justice Turner's summation of the brief case, deliberated for two hours before returning 7-2 guilty verdicts on money laundering with respect to the funds found in the RBC account and the purchase of the car. 

The jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict on the count concerning the cell phone, for which Justice Turner said he was discharged. 

The Crown had alleged that Karchav gave an oral confession to the crimes prior to a recorded interview in the presence of his then lawyer Roger Gomez II. 

Last week, Sergeant Donovan Martin of the Central Detective Unit testified on a conversation with Karchav under caution in the presence of Inspector Deborah Thompson on February 15, 2015. 

Karchav allegedly told police he had been in the country since 2014 and was a part of a credit card group in Bulgaria. It was alleged that he told officers he used his time in the Bahamas to obtain information about the models of the ATM machines he observed. His accomplices replied in kind with information on credit and debit cards, which he uploaded to gift cards he had brought with him when he travelled to the Bahamas. 

He allegedly told Sgt Martin that all of the funds seized by police during his arrest were proceeds from the machines, some of which were deposited to his RBC account. He also stated that he purchased a 2005 Suzuki Swift with some of the funds obtained from the bank.