WESTERN BUREAU — The case against failed pyramid scheme operator, Esmie Jones, was hit with another delay yesterday after prosecution lawyers appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court without statements that were at the Fraud Squad in Kingston.

In addition, the 12 witnesses, who had showed up to testify when the matter was brought before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court last month, were absent. So, too, was the investigating officer, who, the court was told, was on sick leave.

Another trial date was requested but an annoyed judge Valerie Stephens would have none of it.

“I am tired of calling up, calling up the matter and everytime (there is a hold up). I need to know when we can start to make some progress. It’s a 2001 matter and now we are almost half-way through 2002,” she said.

The case was subsequently stricken from the trial list and set for mention on May 29.

“The matter is being set for May 29 and I expect that the investigating officer will be here and that the statements will be in the hands of the clerk so that the clerk will know how to proceed and with whom to proceed,” Stephens said.

Jones, a retired school teacher, is charged with fraud in connection with the collapse of her Speedy Cash pyramid scheme through which hundreds of depositors lost over $100 million.

Speedy Cash was one of several pyramid schemes that mushroomed and eventually collapsed in the western end of the island last year. Several operators have been slapped with fraud charges in connection with the failed schemes.

Over the last year, the 64-year-old Jones, who had her million-dollar bail extended yesterday, has made over 15 court appearances as the case was alternately set for mention and trial for one reason or other.

In the early days, the trial could not proceed because statements were outstanding from the file. When they were added, the matter was delayed because her first attorney, Ray-Norcliffe Edwards, was not in possession of copies of the statements. Then, when it was thought that the trial would finally get underway, Edwards quit to take up a position with the government.

No sooner had attorney Victor Robinson taken up the mantle, he resigned on grounds of discomfiture.

His resignation followed an article published in the Observer which reported Jones’ three daughters saying that they intended to hire a Kingston attorney to represent their mother and to have the case transferred to the capital to ensure that she got a fair trial.

After Robinson resigned, the case was further delayed as Jones sought alternative legal representation. Westmoreland-based attorney, Delford Morgan, was finally assigned via Legal Aid but the case still could not proceed because he needed to be given copies of the statements and time in which to get acquainted with the dynamics of the case.