Statement from Defence Counsel Peter Champagnie on the dismissal of the charges pertaining to fraud and obtaining money by false pretences against his client Dimitris Kosvogiannis.

“Dimitris Kosvogiannis, former general manager of Melia Braco Village, was last month freed in the Corporate Area criminal court when the prosecution offered no evidence against him in respect of charges brought under the Larceny Act, where it was alleged that Kosvogiannis, by unlawful means, obtained credit from two lending institutions.

“His attorney, Peter Champagnie, prior to the court date, had written to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) inviting the office to examine the case file on the basis that it had not had the benefit of a review by the office before the police pressed charges. Additionally, Champagnie, along with attorney-at-law Christopher Townsend, had submitted that the charges were not criminal in nature. The DPP, in response, concurred with the submissions.

“Kosvogiannis was also charged with breach of the Revenue Act in that, on two TRN forms, on separate occasions, he had two different surnames with the distinction being only a difference with the first letter of his surname. In one instance, the letter C was used, while in another the letter K was used.

“Upon being invited by the prosecutor for his client to plead guilty to this, in view of the fact that the breach attracted a maximum file of only $10,000 and a non-recordable conviction, Champagnie indicated to the court that the firm instructions of his client were to contest the charge as his client maintained that he was innocent and that his reputation, irrespective of how minuscule the offence might appear to be, was of paramount importance, in every respect. This aspect of his case is set for trial on June 5, 2019. For now, the major worries of Kosvogiannis appear to be at an end with the dismissal of the larceny charges.”

Kosvogiannis also issued the following statement in relation to the pending TRN matter.

“When I came to the Jamaica with the intention to relocate in 2000, I was not a Jamaican citizen. I travelled and entered the country from the US with my American passport (Obviously, I was living in the US and my Greek passport had long expired).

“The US authorities spelled my name with a “C” in 1985 when I applied for the student visa in Athens, Greece. I was 17 years old and didn’t question the embassy staff. I continued my life, completed my undergraduate and law degrees, got married, and was eventually naturalised. All that with the “C”.

“There was never an issue. Similarly, in Jamaica, when I arrived I obtained unconditional residence since I was married to a Jamaican citizen. I applied for a TRN number in order to obtain work and transact general business in the country. Naturally, the TRN issued in 2000, or thereabout, was issued under the letter “C”.

“In 2009, in light of my quest to defend Jamaica’s workers and for love of Jamaica and its people, as well as to fend off criticism [such as] “You are not even a Jamaican”, I applied for Jamaican naturalisation. The newly formed Passport Immigration and Citzenship Agency (PICA) office requested, as part of the documentary support, my Greek birth certificate. You will note, the letter “C” does not exist in the Greek alphabet.

“As such, PICA issued the Jamaican passport with a “K”. Faced with discrepancies between the TRN spelling of my name, “C”, and my newly issued identification, “K”, I visited the tax office to seek a correction.

“I was advised that a new number would be issued and the old number would be discarded. I relied on the tax office representations. In fact, since 2010 when the new number was issued, with a “K”, the “C” was never used again. I presumed the tax office had followed through on their recommendation and [had] advised and discarded the old number.”