WESTERN BUREAU:
A MONTEGO Bay man, who pleaded not guilty to possession of counterfeit money and the manufacturing of the bills, was remanded in custody until today when he will return to the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.
Andrew Bailey, a 35-year-old unemployed father of four, was arrested on Thursday when the police, acting on intelligence, went to a Cambio on Barnett Street in Montego Bay and saw him. He was approached and when a black pouch he was carrying was searched, it was found to contain a number of $500 and $1,000 notes.
He was taken, by the policemen, to his home in Norwood where the court was told they saw evidence of the bills being produced, including a computer that they claimed was being used to produce the bills.
According to the police, they found 14 letter-size sheets with a $100 note and five letter sized sheets with counterfeit $100 notes on the scanner. Mr. Bailey's attorney, George Thomas, told the court "the strength of the crown's case was tenable at best".
Senior Superintendent Newton Amos, the Police Chief in St. James, is promising a tough crackdown on counterfeiters in the parish.
"We are going to track down many of the persons who are using these sophisticated machinery to make the counterfeit notes," cautioned the Senior Superintendent of Police.
SSP Amos is insisting that "those who think they can get away with passing the notes (counterfeit notes) on to unsuspecting persons will also come in for a hard time from the police.
The parish's top cop is vowing to keep a tight lid on all major crimes in Montego Bay and its environs.
