Jacho Entertainment, the entertainment promotion company of the One Caribbean Music Festival, says it conducted all foreign exchange transactions for the concert through “legal, regulated, and verifiable financial channels.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the company issued a statement, saying, “At no time did Jacho Entertainment engage in any form of unauthorized or black-market currency exchange.”
It comes as the Acting Commissioner of Police, Junior Benjamin, confirmed that the Financial Investigations Branch (FIB) is probing the source, method, and timing of the US$950,000 payment made to Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer by a local promoter to appear at last Saturday’s One Caribbean Music Festival.
However, the statement rebutted saying, “Our company maintains strict compliance with all laws and regulations governing foreign
exchange in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, including Central Bank guidelines.”
Jacho Entertainment said while it remains ready to cooperate with any “legitimate inquiry by the relevant authorities”, no formal report or complaint has been made to law enforcement concerning Jacho Entertainment and the transfer of USD. It also said All payments made in relation to the festival, including the transfer of fund to Vybz Kartel were done via lawful and traceable
banking procedures. It went further in saying, ” There is no basis in law or fact for any presumption of wrongdoing solely because a
private sector entity successfully accessed foreign exchange through proper legal channels.”
The company said any investigation must be guided by reasonable and probable cause, not assumptions. “The public interest is not served by engaging in a fishing expedition that targets a legitimate company without any formal allegation or evidence of impropriety,” the statement said.
Jacho Entertainment said another media release would be issued on Thursday “to answer questions that has arisen in the public domain.”