Guard accused of swiping $400,000 from friend’s account

A St Catherine man who is accused of swindling over $400,000 from his friend's bank account after offering assistance with online banking, was offered bail when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday.

The allegations are that, on March 5, the accused attempted to withdraw money from the complainant's National Commercial Bank (NCB) account. Checks were made by the complainant, who visited one of the bank's branches and requested a printout of his bank statements. It was discovered that, between January and March, $210,000 was transferred via online banking to the accused man's bank account. It was further alleged that, on January 31, an online loan in the sum of $300,000 was processed on the complainant's account and the proceeds of the loan were transferred to an account held by the accused.

However, Sasha-Gaye Shaw, attorney for the accused, in a bail application before Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque, submitted that the complainant asked her client to assist with navigating the online banking platforms.

"He said he assisted with opening a NCB online application on his phone, because he [the complainant] is not technologically savvy. He said he never downloaded the app on his phone, he only assisted the man with opening the app. My client instructs that the gentleman, the complainant, has asked him to assist with the transfers and to use the app to make an application for a loan. Your Honour, he indicates that at no time did he access the complainant's account," Shaw said.

Shaw opined that her client is fit for bail as he has no previous convictions and has been in custody for a month, after he was arrested at his job, where he was employed as a security guard.

The 30-year-old accused was offered bail in the sum of $400,000 with sureties. A stop order was imposed and he was ordered to surrender his travel documents. He is to have no contact or communication with the complainant and is to report to the police once a week. He is to return to court on June 30 when the matter is to be mentioned.

- T.T.