KINGSTON, Jamaica — A young man was last night taken off an aeroplane at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) and arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into a dead-claim scam.

The investigation is being conducted by the Revenue Protection Division (RPD) and the Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).

The young man is the most recent person to be arrested as a result of the investigations into the dead-claim scam at the Accountant General’s Department (AGD), which saw former employee Julio Parkinson being sentenced to three years imprisonment each on 44 counts of obtaining money by false pretence.

Reports are that between February and October 2014, Parkinson acted in concert with others to open accounts at Scotiabank branches across the Corporate Area. Certificates were created in the names of pensioners who were deceased and money paid out to the various fictitious accounts.

This resulted in the Government agency being defrauded of $21.7 million.

David Wright