Cops say scamming victims promised Mercedes-Benz
Letters found in the recycle bin of a computer, which is said to be used by entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta, indicated to two United States seniors that they had won US$7,700,000 and US$1,500,000 respectively, and two red Mercedes-Benz motor cars in a lottery sweepstakes.
Tommy Lee, one of Jamaica’s top entertainers, is facing lottery scamming charges in the Home Circuit Court.
Prosecutors on Friday said the letters were recovered from a laptop and an external hard drive, which were seize by investigators after a search of a Corporate Area premises said to be rented on behalf of the entertainer.
The computer devices reportedly contained files with lottery sweepstakes winning notification letters bearing the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s letterhead. According to prosecutors, the letters, which were prepared for the two seniors, were found in the trash folder on a partition of the hard drive called ‘Tommy Lee’.
Detective Corporal Campbell told the court that the folder called ‘Tommy Lee’ is what is refereed to as a subfolder or child folder.
SERIES OF FILES
“You have to go through a series of folders to get to it ... . The document with the letterhead of the Federal Bureau of Investigation contained a letter addressed to a James Robertson congratulating him on winning his prize,” the detective told prosecution attorney Sophia Thomas last Friday
The prosecution also said that from the data examined, the age range of the victims, whose names comprised the records of persons targeted, were between 70 and 79.
Tommy Lee, whose given name is Leroy Russell, is jointly charged with O’Brian Smith for possession of identity information. Russell is also charged with unlawful use of premises.
The trial, which is now in recess, is schedule to continue on December 12 in the Supreme Court.
The men were charged after investigations stemming from a traffic stop, which led police to a Kingston 5 apartment, allegedly occupied by Tommy Lee, where lottery scamming paraphernalia were allegedly seized.