PASTOR Ray Foster, 44, on Wednesday pleaded guilty before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court for breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The pastor, who heads a church on Cooke Street, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland and his co-accused 60-year-old Oswald Spence, businessman of Claude Clarke Avenue in St James and owner of a car dealership in Montego Bay, St James, were arrested and charged for breaches under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) on Friday, September 18 and Wednesday, September 23, respectively.

The Westmoreland Proactive Intelligence Unit said that on Friday, September 18 a raid was carried out at the home of Pastor Foster where two receipts were found showing a transaction for the purchase of a 2010 Toyota Yaris motor car, amounting to $1.1 million from Oswald Spence.

Further investigations by the unit led to an operation on Wednesday, September 23 where a raid was carried out at Spence’s business place where a receipt book was found with the carbon copies of the receipts found at Foster’s home.

Foster and Spence were subsequently arrested and charged for breaching Section 101A of the POCA with a cash transaction in excess of $1 million.

Spence also pleaded guilty for breaches of the POCA in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, October 7.

“I am extremely pleased with the tenacious attitude of the investigators and how quickly they were able to secure convictions. The hard-working team from the Westmoreland Proactive Intelligence Unit must be lauded for their proactive approach to crime fighting and their intelligence gathering skills. The message is clear we (the police) are coming after the law breakers,” Police Commissioner Carl Williams said in a statement Wednesday.

Both men are scheduled for sentencing on November 30.