Alex Tasker's US extradition upheld by Court of Appeal, CCJ challenge pending
Barbados' Court of Appeal has confirmed the extradition of former ICBL executive Alex Tasker to the US on money laundering charges, but granted a stay pending a CCJ appeal.
Court of Appeal confirms extradition order for former insurance executive
Former insurance executive Alex Tasker will face money laundering charges in the United States after Barbados' Court of Appeal upheld his extradition order — but the ruling has been stayed to allow him to mount a further challenge before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Barbados Today reports.
US authorities are seeking Tasker's extradition on one count of conspiracy to launder money and two counts of money laundering. The charges stem from an alleged bribery scheme involving former Barbados government minister Donville Inniss.
Prosecutors allege that Tasker, a former senior vice-president of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd (ICBL), and former ICBL chief executive Ingrid Innes arranged approximately US$36,000 in payments to Inniss. In return, Inniss allegedly assisted in securing the renewal of government insurance contracts. The payments were purportedly disguised as consulting fees and channelled through the bank account of a US company.
Tasker has consistently denied wrongdoing. During his extradition proceedings in Barbados in September 2021, he stated in an unsworn declaration that he had neither laundered money nor conspired to do so.
Stay granted until all proceedings conclude
Tasker was present in court when his lawyer, Andrew Pilgrim SC, requested an immediate stay following the ruling by the three-member panel of judges. The court's president, Justice Francis Belle, who delivered the decision, ruled that the stay would remain in place until all proceedings related to the matter had been completed. The panel also included Justices William Chandler and Jacqueline Cornelius-Thorne.
Pilgrim had initially sought a six-week stay to allow time for his client to file an application to the CCJ — the standard window permitted under the relevant rules. He also raised concerns about Tasker's protection while awaiting extradition if no stay was granted. Justice Belle noted that bail remained an outstanding issue, though the court subsequently confirmed that Tasker would remain on bail.
Speaking to reporters after the adjournment, Pilgrim said: "It seems to me that the Court of Appeal has said that the extradition is now effective. So, we asked them for a stay, so that we can appeal to the CCJ yet again. Obviously we waited 19 months to get this response, I think it is, and we have to avail ourselves of all the remedies that are available to our client and go from there."
Asked how Tasker was coping with the prospect of extradition, Pilgrim said: "It is difficult to deal with a matter like this when you have waited this long for a response. So, maybe the longer you wait, the more you think that things are going to go in your favour. So, it's hard to say, but the CCJ did the right thing before, hopefully they'll do the right thing again."
A prolonged legal battle
The case has wound through Barbados' courts for several years. In September 2021, a magistrate committed Tasker to surrender to US authorities. Immediately following that order, the magistrate advised Tasker of the available avenues for challenge and the applicable time limits.
Tasker subsequently challenged the committal under the wrong law and failed to file the correct application before the deadline elapsed. The Court of Appeal dismissed his application on the grounds that it had been filed late, and also ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to consider whether the time limit should be extended or whether the earlier appeal — filed under the incorrect statute but within the deadline — should carry any weight.
Tasker then sought special permission to appeal those decisions at the CCJ. In July, the CCJ delivered a judgment refusing special permission to appeal, basing its ruling solely on the filed papers without holding an oral hearing, effectively closing off his challenge at that stage.
Tasker applied to have the case reopened, arguing that he had expected an oral hearing and had therefore not made full submissions. The CCJ heard the application to reopen the matter, the application for special leave to appeal, and the appeal itself on 16 October during its itinerant sitting in Barbados.
The CCJ unanimously agreed with Tasker's lawyers that it had not been made sufficiently clear in advance that the court could proceed without an oral hearing. The court granted Tasker an oral hearing of his application, and having heard both sides, found that the Court of Appeal had erred in concluding it lacked the power to decide for itself whether to hear the application for leave to appeal.
The CCJ accordingly referred the matter back to the Court of Appeal to exercise its own discretion and determine afresh how to handle Tasker's challenge to the magistrate's committal order.
In December 2023, the CCJ had already reopened its earlier decision refusing special permission to appeal and allowed Tasker's appeal at that stage.
Legal representation
Douglas Mendez SC is appearing alongside Pilgrim for the defence. Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale and Principal State Counsel Romario Straker represent the State.
Source: Barbados Today