Former Premier Andrew Fahie Bail Conditions Relaxed

The court has relaxed the bail conditions for former British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew Fahie, who is currently on drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering charges in the United States, to allow him to visit a dentist and to travel to his lawyer’s office to discuss sensitive matters for his upcoming trial.

Earlier this month, Fahie’s lawyer Theresa Van Vliet successfully petitioned 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, and to seek dental healthcare.

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

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

Van Vliet spent the last few months travelling to Fahie’s house to prepare his defence.

The former First Electoral District Representative and chairman of the Virgin Islands Party, was arrested on April 28, 2022 by Drug Enforcement Administration Agents (DEA) at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.

Fahie, 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.