Accused in $222m INSPORTS fraud to get new trial date
A NEW trial date is to be fixed in the judge-alone hearing of the $222-million fraud uncovered at the Institute of Sports (INSPORTS).
A trial date was previously scheduled for April 3 in the Home Circuit Court; however, the court was informed last Friday that the case file was not complete.
The case will, however, be mentioned on April 3 when it is expected that a new trial date will be booked.
Former Financial Controller at INSPORTS, Andrew Wright, and five former employees implicated in a suspected fraud at the government agency, all had their bail extended to return to court in January.
Wright, the promoter of the French Connection and Chug It parties, is charged along with his co-defendants Rudolph Barnes, Oneil Hope, Jonnique Mills, Andrea Picton, and Sherene Farquharson.
The defendants are accused of being part of a team of former INSPORTS employees who wrote, signed, and cashed fraudulent cheques for payees who were neither employed nor contracted to the agency.
They are charged with various offences, including conspiracy to defraud; acquisition, use, and possession of criminal property; engaging in transactions involving criminal property; and larceny as a servant.
The suspected fraud and other irregularities were detected by INSPORTS in 2017 during an examination of their financial records. The matter was then reported to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, triggering an investigation.
The prosecution has disclosed that it intends to rely on 50 witnesses during a three-month trial.
Wright was arrested in April while the Industrial Disputes Tribunal was hearing a wrongful dismissal case he brought against the state-owned agency.
Peter Champagnie, KC, is representing Wright, attorney-at-law Seymour Stewart is representing Hope, and Jacqueline Asher appears for Mills.
Attorney-at-law Xavier Leveridge is representing Picton while his colleagues Steven Jackson and Earl Hamilton are representing Barnes and Farquharson, respectively.