Man on fraud charges gets February court date

WESTERN BUREAU:

A St James man, who reportedly defrauded truck drivers of money to be paid over to them by his company, had his bail extended when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Gavel Witter is charged with fraudulent conversion.

Allegations are that, from December 2014 to April 2015, Witter was employed to a cruise-shipping company and was also a signatory on the company's account. During that time, he reportedly made negotiations with a number of truck drivers, promising they would each be paid $10,000.

It is further alleged that Witter would countersign on cheques to be handed over to the employees, paying them in cash, but only paid out $8,000 each. As a result, the company's management made a report to the fraud squad on June 10. Witter was eventually taken into custody on November 3.

On Wednesday, the court was told that a number of documents, including a further statement from the investigating officer, and a bank statement, were outstanding from the prosecution's case file.

Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small extended Witter's bail until February 17, 2016, when the matter will be mentioned.