Suspected fraudster on OCID's radar

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Detectives from the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID) are to investigate a St Andrew-based man, who is suspected of swindling more than 10 women out of thousands of dollars in an employment scam, who they claim has absconded bail.

Senior Superintendent of Police Clifford Chambers, who heads OCID, said the suspected fraudster was granted bail on his last appearance in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court, despite attempts made by police investigators to keep him remanded.

"He is on bail on conditions, and he has absconded bail. The person who bailed him will also be taken into custody," Chambers said.

The OCID head said he has given investigators directives on how to proceed in the matter.

In the fraudster's latest ploy, several women were told to pay various sums of money, usually between $1,500 and $5,500, which would provide company cell phones, training, uniforms and IDs for them. However, jobs have not been forthcoming.

A former senior employee, who was involved in an altercation with the man, resulting in his motor vehicle being damaged, said he noticed several oddities while there during the month he had been employed.

"Everything in accounting, he does. There is a book that persons sign when they come in to work; in the morning when he comes, he rips out a page.

"Why would he do that? Things entered on the computer; the next day we come they are erased," the former employee said.

There are also indications that the suspected fraudster has been operating employment scams of this nature from as far back as 2000, operating under a different name and using different scenarios.

"We are also going to open a case into racketeering and identity theft," Chambers said.