Nearly 100 alleged lottery scammers for extradition to US identified – Chang
Published:Friday | March 1, 2024 | 1:37 PM
Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang says nearly 100 persons have been identified by the authorities for extradition to the United States on lottery scamming charges.
Chang made the disclosure on Thursday while speaking at Global Services Association of Jamaica President's Breakfast Forum in St James.
Since 2016, some 29 Jamaicans have been extradited to the United States for lottery scamming.
Noting that lottery scamming has many implications for Jamaica's economy, Chang stated that the government is pooling its resources to fight against this criminal activity.
He said that the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Communications Forensic and Cybercrime Division (CFCD) and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), along with other government agencies, have joined forces to penalise these perpetrators.
"The Government of Jamaica has no problem cooperating and working to mitigate, and hopefully remove, this particular scourge of criminal activity from our system because they are a danger and a risk to society," said Chang.
While lottery scamming has been attributed to an increase in gang violence and homicides across the island, Chang said that the criminal activity has additional damaging effects on the country's development, arguing that major corporations may shy away from conducting businesses on the island.
"In addition to the murder of our citizens and the extortion of honest people in North America, it damages the economic prospects of the country. If your cyberspace is not dependedable, effective and has the appropriate response, we will lose opportunities," he explained.
"There are those who will not want to place their business in Jamaica," the minister added.
For his part, CFCD communications officer, Deputy Superintendent Maurice Goode, shared that some 450 individuals have been arrested for lottery scamming-related offences since 2016.
Criminal charges have been further laid against 400 of them and 62 have since been convicted, Goode said on Thursday.
- Rochelle Clayton
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