Bahamian businessman Hubert Garland Evans has been convicted of three counts of wire fraud in Florida, according to court documents obtained by The Guardian.
President and part-owner of Jagar Ltd., a produce wholesaler in Nassau during the 1990s, he was released on bail after his conviction in late January pending sentencing, prosecutors said. It is unclear whether he returned to The Bahamas or is still in the United States.
The jury trial took place before Judge Adalberto Jordan, of the 11th district court in Miami, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Hong.
According to the indictment, Evans defrauded the Export-Import Bank of the United States of more than $1.9 million, which provided credit insurance for two of Jagar’s U.S.-based suppliers οΎ– Produce Direct of New York and International Exports Unlimited of Florida.
Court records said Evans knowingly provided false financial information to obtain credit insurance during 1997 and 1998:
“The defendant, Hubert Garland Evans, for the purpose of executing the aforesaid scheme… to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, did knowingly transmit and cause to be transmitted, by means of wire communications in interstate and foreign commerce, certain writings…”
It is believed that Jagar Ltd. is no longer in operation. Evans is reportedly now associated with a similar wholesale company called Prime Bahamas, and is an investor or partner in at least one other local business.
By Keva Lightbourne, The Nassau Guardian
