Former Premier Andrew Fahie Wants Bail Conditions Relax To Travel To Lawyer’s Office For Trial Preparation

Former British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Fahie, who is currently on drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering charges in the United States, wants his bail conditions relaxed so that he can travel to his lawyer’s office to discuss sensitive matters for his upcoming trial.

Fahie is currently on one million dollars bail – $500,000 cash and $500,00 surety –  and is living in his daughters’ two-bedroom apartment in Florida.

His lawyer Theresa Van Vliet, who has been travelling to Fahie’s house to prepare his defense, in documents filed last week asked the court to adjust the bail order so that her client can travel 45 minutes to her Ft. Lauderdale office to have meetings, no more than three times a week.

At the moment, when Van Vliet visits Fahie, his daughters would leave the apartment for short periods to give them privacy to discuss sensitive matters.

Van Vliet argued that as the trial nears, she will need to meet with her client more frequently and for more lengthy periods.

She also requested that Fahie be allowed to leave his house to seek dental care, noting that the prosecution did not have an objection to the court relaxing the bail conditions.

The former First Electoral District Representative and chairman of the Virgin Islands Party, lives with his two daughters who attend online classes as part of his bail condition.

He also wears an ankle monitor and he and his daughters had to surrender their passports as part of the bail agreement.

Fahie was arrested on April 28, 2022 by Drug Enforcement Administration Agents (DEA) at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. The father of two, along with Ports Authority Director Oleanvine Maynard and her son Kadeem Maynard, are charged with conspiring to import more than five kilos of cocaine into the United States and conspiring to launder $700,000. The female Maynard was arrested in Florida, while her son was detained in St Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. The Maynards are both still in federation custody awaiting trial.

Fahie, a former mathematics teacher, was first elected as District One representative in 1999 at the age of 28, a seat he has held continuously for 23 years. As a member of the VIP government, he has served as Minister for Health, Education and Welfare from 2000 to 2003 and Minister for Education and Culture from 2007 to 2011.

In 2016, Fahie became leader of the VIP and three years later, on February 25th, 2019, he led his party to victory in the general election, breaking the National Democratic Party’s winning streak. VIP won eight of 13 elected seats in the House of Assembly.

In November 2022, he resigned as chairman of the party and from Virgin Islands politics.