Parliament on Tuesday approved the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill 2026, introducing tougher penalties for individuals and companies that fail to provide electronic information requested by law enforcement during criminal investigations.
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin, who piloted the legislation in the House of Representatives, said the amendments are intended to address longstanding difficulties investigators face in obtaining electronic records and data needed to solve crimes.
“The police would need evidence of pinging from telephones, different posts, et cetera, to get a trace of how crimes have been committed,” Benjamin told lawmakers. “But the service providers are refusing to do so.”
Under the amended legislation, a person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a production order within the specified time can face a fine of up to $100,000, imprisonment, or both upon summary conviction. On conviction on indictment, penalties increase to a fine of up to $1 million, imprisonment for up to seven years, or both.
Benjamin said the government was particularly concerned about situations in which local managers of telecommunications companies and other service providers claimed they were unable to comply because instructions had to come from overseas headquarters.
“Some of their supervisors and managers are overseas,” he said. “We have broadened this now. We are naming the managers who are here, the people in control of the company.”
He argued that companies operating in Antigua and Barbuda must cooperate with lawful requests for information rather than delay investigations by referring authorities to foreign-based executives.
The bill received bipartisan support during Tuesday’s debate.
Education Minister Daryll Matthew backed the measure and revealed that he had recently become the victim of a sophisticated financial crime.
“I fell victim to financial crime,” Matthew told Parliament, adding that his bank is currently handling the matter.
He welcomed the legislation and congratulated the Attorney General and his team for bringing the amendments before Parliament.
Support also came from the Opposition benches, with lawmakers agreeing that stronger provisions were needed to ensure investigators can access information required to prosecute crimes committed through electronic means.
One opposition member praised the government for moving to close gaps that have allowed some entities to avoid providing information to authorities.
“I think the government is doing quite an admirable thing in coming to the Parliament to ensure that information can be retrieved from them,” the lawmaker said.
The amendments form part of the government’s broader effort to strengthen the country’s ability to investigate cybercrime, financial fraud and other offences that increasingly rely on digital communications and electronic records.