The Assets Recovery Agency v Andrew Paul Hamilton

• Jurisdiction: Jamaica
• Judge: Stephane Jackson-Haisley J.
• Judgment Date: 11 August 2023
• Court: Supreme Court (Jamaica)
• Year: 2023
• Docket Number: CLAIM NO. SU 2019 CV 04077

BETWEEN

The Assets Recovery Agency

Applicant

and

Andrew Paul Hamilton

1 ^st Respondent

and

Samar Davis

2 ^nd Respondent

and

Akayla Parie Hamilton

3 ^rd Respondent

and

Akayla Parie Hamilton

4 ^th Respondent

and

George Bernard Lynch

5 ^th Respondent

and

Maurice Anthony Chin Shue

6 ^th Respondent

and

Tamara Gayle Berger

7 ^th Respondent

and

Johnathan Clifton Browning

8 ^th Respondent

and

Maurice Haskill

9 ^th Respondent

and

Webster Campbell

10 ^th Respondent

[2023] JMSC Civ. 177

CLAIM NO. SU 2019 CV 04077

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

IN CIVIL DIVISION

Sections 55, 56, 57, 58, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 89 of the Proceeds of Crime Act — Parts 10 and 12 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2002 — Application for Leave to Enter Judgment in absence of Defence — Civil recovery orders — Recoverable property — Unlawful conduct

IN CHAMBERS

Mrs. Caroline P. Hay K.C. and Mr. Zurie O. Johnson instructed by Caroline P. Hay Attorneys-at-law for the Applicant

Mr. Lenroy Stewart and Mr. Daniel Beckford instructed by Wilkinson Law, Attorneys-at-law for the 1 ^st, 2 ^nd, and 10 ^th Respondents

Stephane Jackson-Haisley J.

THE CLAIM

1 The Claimant and Applicant is the Assets Recovery Agency (hereafter ARA) established by virtue of section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2007 (hereafter POCA) and has as one of its primary functions the institution of proceedings in the Supreme Court against any person that it believes hold recoverable property.

2 The Claimant filed a Claim Form and Particulars of Claim on October 17, 2019, the essence of which is that the Claimant seeks civil recovery orders against the Respondents in respect of assets set out in a Table described at Table 1, pursuant to section 57 of the POCA. On January 7, 2021, the Claimant filed a Notice of Application for Leave to Enter Judgment supported by affidavit evidence of Selvin Hay, the Chief Technical Director of Financial Investigations Division (FID). Leave was sought to enter judgment as there is in place a restraint order made pursuant to section 33 of the POCA and the same will need to be discharged upon the entry of judgment in the Claim. They base their application on the fact that the Claim remains undefended as none of the Respondents has filed a Defence.

3 The 1 ^st and 2 ^nd Respondents filed their Acknowledgment of Service of Claim Form on March 11, 2021 and the 10 ^th Respondent filed his Acknowledgment of Service on November 9, 2021. Other than those, there has been no indication that any of the other Respondents intends to defend the claim. The Claim is undefended as none of the Respondents has filed a Defence in the matter.

4 The 1 ^st Respondent Andrew Paul Hamilton is described by the Claimant as a twice convicted drug dealer who has been associated with the following alias names:

• I. “Anthony Randazzo”

• II. “Andrew Campbell”

• III. “Barri Houston”

• IV. “Milton Ramsay”

• V. “Webster Cunningham”, and

• VI. “Curtis Malone.”

5 It is the Claimant's case that Mr. Hamilton was engaged in unlawful conduct between the period 1998 and 2012 and was arrested on or about June 24,1998 for the sale of a controlled substance in the United States of America. He was convicted of this offence on or about July 21, 1998 either under his name or the name of an alias. On or about October 22, 2012 in the State of California, United States of America, he pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Conspiracy to Launder Money and was sentenced on February 3, 2014 to serve 54 months in a Federal Prison in the United States of America. He purchased or facilitated the purchase of the parcels of real estate identified and described in Table 1 between 2007 to 2012 from the proceeds of the unlawful conduct.

6 Samar Davis is the 2 ^nd Respondent and the mother of the 3 ^rd Respondent Akayla Parie Hamilton and Akeem Pierre Hamilton, a minor who has not been named a party in these proceedings. She is a joint owner of property itemized at numbers two, three and four of Table 1.

7 It is alleged that Akayla Parie Hamilton is the daughter of Andrew Hamilton and Samar Davis. She is a joint owner of property itemized at numbers two, three and four of Table 1. At the time when Akayla Hamilton was registered on the Certificates of Title, she was a minor having been born on November 24, 1999. Her date of birth is reflected on the Certificate of Title for property itemized at two, three and four in Table 1.

8 The ARA avers that the given names for the 4 ^th to 10 ^th Respondents in this claim are not connected with the associated addresses and the addresses themselves are not genuine addresses in the United States of America and Canada. It is averred that these fictitious addresses were placed on the respective Certificates of Title for the parcels of property sought to be recovered in this claim by persons associated with the 1 ^st Respondent.

9 The ARA pleads a constructive and/or resulting trust in all estate and interest in the properties the subject of this claim to the benefit of Andrew Paul Hamilton. The Agency further avers that the realty described in Table 1 realty below, directly or indirectly represents the proceeds of the unlawful conduct of Andrew Paul Hamilton in drug trafficking and in laundering.

10 The gravamen of the Applicant's case is that the 1 ^ST Respondent was involved in the trafficking of narcotics and money laundering in the United States of America and as a result, he gained monetarily from his unlawful, ‘criminal’ conduct, allowing him to use the proceeds gained from his conduct to acquire what are now identified as thirteen different real properties. All the real estate that have been located through investigations carried out by entities working on behalf of the Financial Investigations Division, and which are also the subject of the Application for Judgment are identified in Tables 1 below.

Table 1 - Real Property
Cons. #	Description of Property	Registered Proprietor(s)	Volume / Folio	Date of Acquisition	Consideration	Market or estimated Market Value JAD/USD
1	Lot 2 Buena Vista Mandeville Manchester	Andrew Paul Hamilton & Andrene Peta-Gaye Hamilton (deceased)	1415/617	07/12/2007	J$8,000,000.00	J$11,000,000.00
2	Strata Lot 9, 19 and 21 Ballater Avenue, Kingston, St. Andrew	Samar Davis Akayla Parie Hamilton Akeem Pierre Hamilton Andrew Paul Hamilton Jnr	1394/792	11/01/2007	USD$160,000.00	USD$600,000.00 together with Items # 3 and 4
3	Strata Lot 4 of 19 and 21 Ballater Avenue, Kingston, St. Andrew	Samar Davis Akayla Parie Hamilton Akeem Pierre Hamilton Andrew Paul Hamilton Jnr	1394/787	11/01/2007	USD$160,000.00	USD$600,000.00 together with Items # 2 and 4
4	Strata Lot 5 of 19 and 21 Ballater Avenue, Kingston, St. Andrew	Samar Davis Akayla Parie Hamilton Akeem Pierre Hamilton Andrew Paul Hamilton Jnr	1394/788	11/01/2007	USD$160,000.00	USD$600,000.00 together with Items # 2 and 3
5	Strata Lot 8 of Ironshore and Hartfield Estate, St, James	Louise Anne Miller of 2002 Steffi Avenue, Lawrenceville GA 30049 United States of America (address believed fictional)	1421/677	04/04/2012	USD$320,000.00	USD$350,000.00
6	Lot 43, Barbara Avenue, Bridgeport, Edgewater, Portmore, St. Catherine	George Bernard Lynch of 30035 Honeyway Street, Canoga Place, California 91306, United States of America (address believed fictional)	1100/257	04/01/2011	J$9,000,000.00	J$14,000,000.00
7	Lot 1, 32 Caledonia Road, Mandeville, Manchester	Maurice Anthony Chin Shue of 122 Topscott Road, Scarborough, Ontario, MIB 3G7, Canada (address believed fictional)	1118/61	14/02/2011	J$29,050,000.00	J$35,000,000.00
8	Lot 11 Fullerswood, St. Elizabeth	Louise Anne Miller of 2002 Steffi Avenue, Lawrenceville, GA 30049 United States of America (address believed fictional)	1152/445	14/01/2011	USD$250,000.00	USD$300,000.00
9	Strata Lot 10 of Providence, Ironshore and Hartfield and parts of Lots 1087 and 1088B, St. James	Tamara Gayle Berger of 210-50 24 th Avenue, Unit 20 Queens New York 11260, United States of America (address believed fictional)	1398/302	14/01/2011	J$30,000,000.00 together with Item #11	J$35,000,000.00 Together with Item #11
10	28 Caledonia Road, Caledonia, Manchester	Johnathan Clifton Browning of 2425 Strag Avenue, Bronx, New York 10466, United States of America (address believed fictional)	1150/646	23/04/2012	USD$200,000.00	USD$250,000.00
11	Strata Lot 3 of Providence, Ironshore and Hartfield and part of Lots 1087 and 1088B, St, James	Tamara Gayle Berger of 210-50, 24 th Avenue, Unit 20, Queens New York 11260, United States of America (address believed fictional)	1398/295	14/01/2011	J$30,000,000.00 together with Item #9	J$35,000,000.00 together with Item #9
12	Lots 8 and 8A Forest Hills, St. Andrew	Maurice Haskill of 8527 Walters Edge Drive, Stonemont GA 30087, United States of America (address believed fictional)	976/666	14/01/2011	J$15,000,000.00	J$20,000,000.00
13	Lot 49 Woodlawn, Mandeville, Manchester	Webster Campbell of 4430 Arizona Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046, United States of America (address believed fictional)	1447/736	12/01/2011	USD$980,000,00	USD$1,200,000.00	Total	J$150,000,000.00 US$3,900,000.000

EVIDENCE RELIED ON BY THE CLAIMANT

11 A further affidavit was also relied on from Courtney Smith, the Director of Legal Services of the Financial Investigations Division.

12 In the affidavit of Selvin Hay filed January 7, 2021, he stated that personal service of the statement of case was effected on the 1 ^st Respondent on April 2, 2020. He further stated that the Affidavits of Brenton Brown filed May 29 and November 9, 2020 supports personal service on the 1 ^st Respondent.

13 According to Mr. Hay, permission to dispense with personal service and...