TAJ attendant convicted over stolen motor vehicle registration certificate

Commissioner of the Revenue Protection Division at the Finance Ministry, Cranston Morgan, is cautioning members of the public to ensure that they conduct business with the specifically designated officers within the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ).

Morgan says there are avenues available to the public to solve any challenges.

The appeal came in light of the conviction of 55-year-old TAJ attendant Winston ‘Bob’ Hastings who stole and later sold a motor vehicle registration certificate.

Hastings was found guilty of obtaining money by false pretence, receiving stolen property, and two counts of possession of revenue paper before being duly issued for public use last Friday in the St James Parish Court and he is to be sentenced on July 25.

On that date, he is expected to answer to two charges of breaching the Corruption Prevention Act arising from the same matter.

In a statement, the division explained that the matter began in 2013 after officers from the agency were called to attend to a customer at the Montego Bay Revenue Service Centre in St James who was doing a motor vehicle transaction. 

It was further explained that investigations revealed that the ‘expired’ motor vehicle registration certificate presented by the customer belonged to a batch of revenue paper which had been reported lost from the stores of the TAJ. 

The agency said subsequent investigations revealed Hastings as the person with whom the owner of the vehicle would entrust his documents for processing. 

It said a search of Hastings’ house revealed him to be in possession of a blank provisional driver’s licence that had not yet been issued from TAJ’s stores. 

He was subsequently arrested and charged.

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