ST. CROIX — The District Court of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix issued three warrants today to forfeit money seized from a bank in connection to the alleged theft of disaster relief program funds by Davidson and Sasha Charlemagne, who pleaded not guilty to federal money laundering charges on June 20.
A verified complaint of forfeiture was filed in District Court November 4 alleging the money was subject to seizure and forfeiture to the U.S. government, according to a court document.
FBI Special Agent Jamaal Westby offered a declaration on November 4 in support of the complaint to forfeit funds seized on June 12 from the Charlemagnes’ Banco Popular checking account in the amount of $71,470.21 that was in the name of their company, D&S Trucking.
The FBI believed there was probable cause to forfeit the funds seized from the Charlemagnes’ bank account as property involved in money laundering. The case includes two other warrants the court issued today to forfeit money from two additional accounts the Charlemagnes had at Banco Popular in the amount of $62,989.05 and $24,287.38 for a total of $158,746.64.
Davidson Charlemagne, director of maintenance for the Virgin Islands Department of Education, who has been placed on leave without pay, was initially charged with money laundering conspiracy, fraud concerning programs receiving federal funds, and wire fraud. His wife, Sasha Charlemagne, was initially charged with money laundering conspiracy.
The federal charges stem from a two-year investigation involving a $4.4 million contract with the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority for storage and management of wood that the Federal Emergency Management Agency shipped to the territory to be used for the reconstruction of commercial and residential buildings following the 2017 hurricanes. The Charlemagnes’ company, D&S Trucking, allegedly stood to gain vastly inflated annual fees from VIHFA to store and manage the wood on St. Croix without rent at the shuttered Alexander Henderson Elementary School.
Darin Richardson, VIHFA former chief operating officer, is a third defendant in the case. He initially faced a local charge of criminal conflict of interest and a federal charge of making materially false statements.
READ MORE: “Charlemagnes plead not guilty to federal charges related to theft of disaster relief program funds”
The Charlemagnes pleaded not guilty to new charges of false claims connected to timesheets during their second arraignment in District Court on October 25 that were filed in a superseding indictment.
A second superseding indictment filed December 17 also charges Sasha Charlemagne with wire fraud, and Richardson with money laundering, bank fraud and making a false statement on loan and credit applications. Davidson Charlemagne was not charged with any additional counts. All three defendants pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on December 19.
The government intends to prosecute Richardson separately from the Charlemagnes. Jury selection for the Charlemagnes is set for February 3, 2025. A jury trial for Richardson was previously set for February 18, 2025.
