Accused of job fraud bailed for $500,000 in Saint Catherine

Jamaica: A 30-year-old accused man was granted bail after an appearance in the Saint Catherine Parish Court in the case of overseas job fraud with three women. The man was held and laid with charges in the fraud case, accused of defrauding around seven thousand dollars from victims. The bail was granted against an amount of a half million dollars in surety on Friday, 26 April.

The accused man in the job fraud case is identified in the police reports as a local belonging to Saint Catherine, a parish of Jamaica in the southeastern part of the island. The documented name of the suspect is disclosed to be Kirk Letford by the sources.

As per the reports, the overseas job fraud case of Saint Catherine shares its roots in the month of March in the current year. It is said that the man was involved in a scam, where he used to take money from people while promising them to provide jobs in foreign nations like Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and others.

In March 2024, the suspect managed to fool three women under his scam while involving them as benefit seekers of overseas job schemes. The three women were seeking better job opportunities for themselves which led them to become victims of fraud by the suspect.

According to the statements of the victims, the women were approached by the accused man, whom he promised three of them to provide them with a permanent job. The suspect assured them that the job would be given to them in the United States of America with permission and proper documents for working.

In order to fulfil the necessity of three victim women to migrate to the United States of America for the purpose of employment, the suspect collected around seven thousand dollars total with his service fee. He promised the women to soon provide them with relevant documents to work in the foreign nation with employment letters.

However, the promise made with the three women was not fulfilled by the suspect within a given time period. The three women tried to contact him but were not able to collect any information. Subsequently, when the victims realised that they got involved in a fraud, the women filed a complaint against the suspect to the police department.

The officers from the Spanish Town Criminal Investigation Branch got involved in the case and started the investigation. the information was collected by the three victims on the basis of which the action was taken. The investigation was successful and the suspect was held by the officers.

After further proceedings, the suspect was laid with charges of fraudulent conversion by the police department in the Saint Catherine overseas job fraud case. Under the laid charges, the man was taken for the appearance in the court for the hearing.

The case of overseas job fraud in Saint Catherine was heard by Yvette Wentworth Miller, the senior parish court judge, who granted bail to the accused man against the amount of half a million dollars as surety. The accused is ordered to reappear in the court for further proceedings on Monday, 17 June.