Accounting clerk commits $1-million fraud

"You are a thief" was how Parish Judge Maxine Ellis described accounting clerk Alvira Campbell, a former employee of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, who skimmed more than $1 million from the government, by falsifying applications in order to benefit from social grants.

"This is so wrong till it caah wrong nuh more. You failed the trust of the government who put you in a very sensitive position that you could in fact tender these documents for cheques to be drawn. She knew that she could get her schooling paid for. A lot of people are exploiting the social programmes and it is not in the best interest of a developing country," the parish judge said.

Campbell pleaded guilty to four counts of larceny as a servant and seven counts of money laundering in a trial which started in 2022. The investigation, which was led by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, commenced in 2017 after an audit at the ministry revealed that grants were obtained by Campbell to pay her tuition at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean, where she read for a bachelor's degree in business administration. Monies were also paid to the primary school where Campbell's son was enrolled. It was shared further in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court that in November 2017, Campbell initiated a request for refund for tuition, under the guise that she made the payments out of pocket.

"You know what I wrote after hearing all of this, 'You added insult to injury'. You already benefitted and the person who is the watchman, is the person who is taking it. But the government does not have the finances to pay a watchman to watch the watchman. When they give you a job like this, they say do not take it. You are the person they put in to screen to make sure that you are trustworthy. You failed the trust of the government," Ellis argued.

The judge indicated that she was not minded to sentence the 37-year-old to a term of imprisonment, having taken into account mitigating factors presented by her attorney-at-law C.J Mitchell.

"We are not seeking to justify the taking of the funds but to have in mind that the funds were not taken for a nonsensical reason. What she did was wrong. We are asking the court not to impose a custodial sentence," the senior attorney pleaded, indicating that his client had repaid the sums.

Campbell was fined $400,000 or 12 months imprisonment on counts one to four on the indictment. On counts five to 11, she was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months.