Seniors barred from collecting remittances

A senior citizen said that he has been flagged by two remittance services providers, and that the situation is hindering him and his sick wife from purchasing basic necessities such as food and medication.

John Black*, 68, who hails from western Kingston, said that for almost two years, he has been collecting money from his family overseas. But last month, he was told that he had been flagged and has been struggling to make ends meet since.

"My wife is 65. She suffer three strokes and is currently in a wheelchair. Di whole of her left side is out of commission and she have to wear diapers. Is someone I borrow $1,500 to buy a pack of diapers for my wife," he said.

Remittance inflows, which oftentimes represents funds sent back to help care for family members in Jamaica, exceeded US$3.3 billion for 2021, representing an increase over the US$2.9 billion for 2020.

Black said that he and his wife are heavily dependent on the money being sent to them by relatives overseas. He is appealing to remittance services providers to be understanding and to allow him to collect the much-needed funds.

"I walk with a cane, I have trouble with mi eyes and mi have arthritis and high blood pressure. I also have grout so my foot dem swell up so I can't work. So is the money whe mi family send mi use take care of us and mi can't get it.

"Mi swear on mi life that mi is a honest person and not a scammer so I don't know why mi get block. Is once a month mi always collect and mi nuh usually collect over US$150," Black added.

He said that while he was not given a reason for being flagged, he was advised to send an email with the names of the persons who have wired him money since 2020. He is still awaiting a response from the companies.

FREE MI UP

"Mi a ask dem to free mi up because I need money to buy food and I told them that the money that mi always receive is to buy food and medical stuff. Is not like mi a scam anybody, is just because mi and mi wife sick while we can't work so we family take care of us. Suh mi a beg dem please just free mi up," he pleaded.

Contacted for comment on the matter, Jacinth Hall Tracey, a past president of both the Jamaica Money Remitters Association and the Cambio Association of Jamaica, said that remittance services providers said that the frequency of transactions may result in persons being "flagged".

"I think the normal process is to reach out to the sender. I think once the sender makes the complaint, or they raise the issue, they investigate the issue and then they can unblock," Hall Tracey said.

She promised to look into the case of the seniors who have been unable to collect monies sent to them.

Financial institutions have been forced to implement rules to stem the flow of ill-gotten funds, which are the proceeds from illicit activities such as lottery scamming and money laundering.

Under the law, financial institutions are required to report suspicious transactions to the Financial Investigations Division. Remittance services providers are required to vet transactions, which includes looking at the patterns and possible linkages between the origin and destination of the transactions.