Caught on tape! - Transport Authority spy charged with stealing from cabbie

Bombshell allegations in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday outlined how an undercover Transport Authority worker allegedly stole the belongings of a rogue taxi operator.

"Our undercover operations focus in large part on robot taxis (white plates), who are not properly insured or have the requisite road licence. By and large, overt operational tactics are usually employed to detect, prevent and treat with operators operating contrary," said Merdina Callum, head of the entity's corporate communications department.

Allegations outlined how a former employee, Shanique McDonald, went undercover as a passenger in a route taxi, which was operating from Mountain View Avenue to Bull Bay. The driver reportedly engaged the Transport Authority officers in a high-speed chase. But what left everyone in the courtroom shellshocked, was when prosecutors detailed how McDonald was caught on the complainant's dashcam, placing his crossbody bag - containing $743,000, a debit card and his wedding band - in her personal handbag.

The court heard that, during the chase which spanned about 10.5 kilometres, passengers were pleading with the driver to surrender to the authorities. During their pleas, his bag strap popped and the bag fell to the floor of the vehicle. McDonald was seen on the footage taking the bag and placing it in her bag. Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell was enthused seeing the footage.

"Oh dear, I think I get the best videos in here. She took the money, she took up the bag, looked in the bag and I guess she liked what she saw and put his bag in her bag, zipped up her bag and then placed the flap of her bag over it. She took the money," the senior jurist surmised from the video she was shown by the investigator.

"How could you do that to yourself? Miss, you are not going home, you are remanded in custody. I don't need to see anything else. She just sat there, blessed and unbothered. She took the bag and just went back on her phone," Burrell said.

McDonald, who was charged with simple larceny and unauthorised access to computer data, is represented by attorney-at-law Rykel Chong, who indicated to the senior jurist that her client was part of an undercover investigation.

"Where in her debriefing was she to take up the man's bag? This lady is a government worker and is stealing," the senior judge stressed, instructing investigators to lay additional charges against McDonald for misconduct in a public office. Callum confirmed with THE WEEKEND STAR that McDonald was no longer employed to the agency.

Chong unsuccessfully tried to have her client bail's extended. McDonald was remanded in custody until November 28, when the matter is set for mention. She was made the subject of a fingerprint order and the investigator was instructed to have the raw footage of the incident handed over to the prosecutors.