A 30-year-old Guyanese man was on Wednesday arrested at the John F Kennedy Airport in New York by United States federal agents as he was about to leave the country after failing to declare over US$35,000 he was carrying.
Court documents seen by this newspaper state that Vilton Bourne, a US citizen knowingly and with intent, concealed more than US$10,000 in currency without declaring it.
The documents state that Bourne was selected by Customs and Border Protection officers for an outbound enforcement examination. He was
instructed to declare in sum all monies he was transporting both on his person and in luggage.
However, Bourne declared US$9,000 on his Customs and Border Protection 909 declaration form. A CPB officer asked Bourne to present the money and he presented US$10,000 and told agents that he had no other monies.
CPB then identified two pieces of Bourne’s luggage and searched them where US$10,000 was discovered in each. His wallet contained US$5,577.
The document said that the CBP officers recovered a total of US$35,577 in US currency from the defendant.
He was then read his rights and charged.
On February 20th Bourne was arraigned before New York Eastern District Magistrate, Cheryl L Pollak in an Eastern District of New York Court. Bail was refused and he was remanded to prison.
Bourne was first represented by a state appointed counsel but subsequently hired Aaron L Altman to represent him.
