The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A BULGARIAN man will serve ten months in prison for money laundering that stemmed from an ATM machine hacking scheme, a judge ruled yesterday.

Kostadin Karchav, 39, appeared before Justice Bernard Turner facing up to 20 years in prison on two counts of money laundering concerning nearly $51,000 found in his Royal Bank of Canada account and the purchase of a Suzuki Swift last year.

Karchav’s lawyer, Stanley Rolle, had asked the judge for leniency in sentencing for his client, whom he said was the sole provider for his family at home in Europe.

He added that Karchav’s involvement was limited in the overall fraud hacking scheme.

Ambrose Armbrister, trial prosecutor, urged the court to consider that Karchav not only pleaded guilty to the crime related to the proceedings a year ago, but that Karchav was also convicted of a similar crime in the UK.

Justice Turner yesterday said that the court must impose a sentence “to dissuade others from this type of activity and the convict himself.”

“It is unfortunate that it appears that this convict, who appears to be highly intelligent, would choose to engage in this behaviour. If he had chosen to apply himself, no doubt the convict had a bright future in lawful enterprise. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas welcomes people but it does not welcome people to come and take advantage,” the judge stressed.

Justice Turner said a two-year stint at the Department of Correctional Services would be an appropriate sentence for the offences in the circumstances.

The sentence was reduced to ten months because Karchav had been in custody since February 2015 in a case related to his latest conviction.

The ten months will run from the date of conviction, April 11, and once his sentence is complete he is to be deported.

Justice Turner ordered the funds that were deposited to the RBC account and the Suzuki Swift to be forfeited to the Crown.

The jury in Karchav’s trial heard that Karchav gave an oral confession to the crimes prior to a record of interview that was done in the presence of his then lawyer Roger Gomez II.

Sergeant Donovan Martin of the Central Detective Unit testified of 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.

A record of interview was held following this conversation later on that afternoon.

Karchav, who elected to remain silent to allegations, called Mr Gomez II as a witness where the latter confirmed to defence attorney Rolle that he sat in on a record of interview, but it was not on Sunday, February 15, 2015.

Mr Armbrister asked the lawyer if Karchav had made any complaints when he went to see him. Mr Gomez said his then client’s complaint only concerned the cell and food.

The jury returned 7-2 guilty verdicts on money laundering with respect to the funds found in the RBC account and the purchase of the Suzuki Swift.

The jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict on the count concerning an iPhone 6 cell phone, of which Justice Turner said he was discharged.