Real estate is a well-established vehicle for laundering the proceeds of criminal activity: a property purchase converts illicit cash into an asset that appears legitimate, generates lawful rental income, and can be sold to produce ‘clean’ capital gains. Jamaica’s Proceeds of Crime Act and anti-money-laundering framework impose obligations on attorneys, real estate dealers, and financial institutions to detect and report suspicious transactions.

Read More

While individual squatters are a persistent feature of Jamaica’s land tenure landscape, organised land invasions — in which groups of persons, sometimes directed by a coordinator who collects payment from each squatter, simultaneously occupy private or government land — represent a more serious form of property crime that requires an urgent and coordinated legal and law enforcement response.

Read More