ELEVEN people who were accused of involvement in the ongoing lottery scam have been charged by the St Ann police with breaches of the Law Reform Fraudulent Transaction Special Provision Act (2013) after they were formally interviewed in the presence of their their lawyers.
Detective Sergeant Kirk Nicholls, head of the St Ann Proactive Investigation Unit, said the 11 were arrested during police operations in Belle Air, Runaway Bay, along the Drax Hall main road and in Madras, near Watt Town.
Held in the Belle Aire operation were:
• Kadeejha Williams, 22, unemployed of Belle Air, Runaway Bay, and Salt Marsh, Trelawny;
• Aldane Reid, 24, unemployed, also of Belle Aire, Runaway Bay;
• Renardo Vidal, 27, unemployed of Belle Air, Runaway Bay and Hague, Trelawny;
• Errol Rhoden, 24; and
• two teenagers, aged 17, of Belle Air, St Ann, and Trelawny.
Police said they were all held at a house in Belle Air, about 5:00 am last week Sunday. They were reportedly found with identity information of people overseas and lottery scamming information on devices. Some 17 cellphones, two laptop computers, two tablet computers, and three notebooks were allegedly seized.
Last Monday, two men were arrested when they were held on the Drax Hall main road, allegedly in possession of items linking them to lottery scamming.
Detective Sergeant Nicholls said about 6:45 pm, Shawn Watson, a 27-year-old welder, and Duvan Brooks, a 24-year-old mechanic, both of Kinloss, Clarks Town in Trelawny, were held in a police operation on the Drax Hall main road in a motor car with a laptop computer, three cellphones, two transaction receipts and $299,000.00.
The devices, when checked, were allegedly found to contain identity information of persons overseas, congratulatory letters regarding sweepstakes winnings and other information. The other three were held last Wednesday during an operation in Madras, near Watt Town.
According to the police, 25-year-old Leon Higgins, unemployed; 22-year-old student Sara Lee Johnson; 34-year-old bartender Andrine Downer and another man were held with one computer, five cellphones, one thumb drive and a notebook containing more than 2,000 names and identity information for people living overseas.
The man, whose name has not been released, is to be interviewed and charged during this week. The other two were offered bail in the sum of $100,000 and are expected to appear in court in St Ann’s Bay on October 6.
Head of the St Ann police, Superintendent Wayne Cameron, said recently that lottery scammers have been migrating to the parish, mainly from western Jamaica, and he called on residents to be careful regarding who they allow to rent their premises.