Attorneys for Ingrid Innes are hoping for probation and supervised release on Tuesday when she enters her guilty plea.
Innes, the former chief executive officer of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd (ICBL) is set to formally plead guilty this Tuesday in a United States federal court to her role in a bribery scheme involving former Government minister Donville Inniss.
The 70-year-old Guyana-born Canadian resident faces one count of conspiracy to launder money and two counts of money laundering.
Innes is scheduled to appear before District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in the Eastern District Court of New York, where she will be immediately sentenced.
On August 21, her attorney Gary Mouw wrote to the judge advising that Innes had been duly informed of probation and supervised release.
He told the court: “I represent Ingrid Innes. On August 18, 2026, this court ordered defence counsel to provide to defendant, in writing, the standard conditions of probation and supervised release listed in Sections 5Bl.3 and 5Dl.3 of the US sentencing guidelines, as well as any special conditions of supervision recommended in defendant’s PSR (Presentence Report).
“By this letter and signatures below, I certify that I have provided Mrs Innes, in writing, the standard conditions of probation and supervised release listed in Sections 5Bl.3 and 5Dl.3 of the US sentencing guidelines, as well as any special conditions of supervision recommended in defendant’s PSR. I further certify that I have explained the standard conditions and any recommended special conditions of supervisions to Mrs Innes; that Mrs Innes and I have had adequate time to discuss the standard conditions and any recommended special conditions of supervision; and that Mrs Innes understands that the court will impose the standard conditions if Mrs Innes’ sentence includes a term of probation or supervised release.”
Two years in jail
Judge Matsumoto also presided over Inniss’ 2020 trial, where she sentenced the former parliamentarian to two years in federal prison after he was found guilty for the same crimes.
Innes, who resigned from ICBL in 2017 and relocated to Canada in 2018, had been fighting extradition to the US since the charges were made against her in 2018.
In 2024 a Canadian court ordered that she be extradited, however, she appealed. That appeal was supposed to be heard on September 29, but last April her attorneys sent notification to the US indicating her intention to plead guilty.
According to the indictment, between 2015 and 2016, Innes and other high-level ICBL executives funnelled US$36 000 in bribes to Inniss through a New York dental firm’s bank account. It added the payments, routed through ICBL’s then Bermudabased subsidiary, were made to secure two Government insurance contracts worth over $100 million.
The US court has detailed a strict timeline for the proceedings. On April 4 the court wrote to all parties stating: “All parties shall appear for a guilty plea hearing to be followed by sentencing on September 1, 2026, at 10 a.m. The parties are expected to follow Federal Rule 32 with regard to objections, corrections or comments to the Presentence Report (PSR). Defence counsel must respond to the PSR within two weeks of receipt, the Government will respond one week thereafter.”
The court order further established a hard deadline for final submissions, noting that “defendant’s submissions shall be filed by August 7, 2026, the government must respond by August 14, 2026, [and] reply by the defendant shall be served and filed by August 20, 2026.”
The charges against Innes carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison for each count. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan P. Lax was added as counsel for the government in March, while attorney Ronald G. DeWaard entered the case pro hac vice to represent Innes last month.
While Innes prepares for her plea, the extradition case against the scheme’s third defendant, former ICBL senior vice-president Alex Tasker, remains paused.
The 65-year-old Barbadian faces the same charges as Innes. However, his surrender to US authorities has been stalled by legal issues. (MB)