By Yasmin Popescu
Much to the delight of a local businessman, the Pawnbrokers and Secondhand Bill, 2011 has been passed.
Tony Johns, of GB Trading Post, in an interview recently said he is was looking forward to the legislation that was passed on December 5, 2011 in Parliament.
The Bill was for the Act to provide for the activities of Pawnbrokers and Secondhand Dealers.
The Act is to monitor and regulate the activities of pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers; to deter unlawful property transactions through pawn brokers and secondhand dealers; and to facilitate the efforts of law enforcement in recovering stolen articles and solving property crimes.
It also noted that the Commissioner of Police shall designate such number of officers, as he considers necessary, from within the Royal Bahamas Police Force to perform the functions under this Part and shall appoint from among such officers an administrator.
Johns said the regulations are to be in place to ensure that the stigma attached to pawn shops could be lessened. He noted that the law now requires a "cooling off period" of 14 days after items are brought so it can be deemed ok to be resold. Therefore persons who are engaged in illegal activities bringing ill gotten gains to be sold will find that they have to wait for those items to be cleared by the police before they sold.
Further the legislation requires dealers/pawnbrokers to keep records of all items brought in.
According to the Act Article14 (1) In relations to every transaction that is conducted by a dealer, that dealer shall keep and maintain electronic records detailing the prescribed particulars in relation to such transactions for a period of not less thatn five years after the completion of that transaction.
(2) A dealer shall clearly label every article acquired during the course of his dealings and every article shall bear such particulars as may be prescribed.
In Article 17 there is further security in reporting stolen articles.
(1) Where a dealer has possession of, or is offered for sale or pawn, any article that he knows or suspects to be stolen, he shall report the article to the police as soon as practicable and hold it for 21 days from the date of the report to the police.
(2) Where a dealer has been notified by the police that a specified article is, or is alleged to be a stolen article, that dealer shall –
(a) verify whether the specified article is in his possession and, if so, report the article to the police;
(b) notify the police immediately if the specified article is subsequently offered to him for sale or pawn.
(3) A dealer may dispose of a specified article that he has reported to the police under this section after holding it for the minimum period of 21 days unless before the expiry of the 21 days, the police issue a hold notice under section nine with respect to the article.
While the Government has enforced this Act, it does not affect the Freeport area of Grand Bahama, which is ran by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, where officials say they do not offer licenses for Pawnbrokers, however they issue licenses for secondhand/ consignment stores.
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