Sentencing postponed for farmer who faked his death
THE sentencing of a Clarendon farmer who faked his death to collect on a $17-million insurance policy was postponed to later this month, when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday.
Kim Wayne Phillips’ sentencing was rescheduled to March 29 after the court was told that his police record is still outstanding.
Phillips, who was 45 years old when he was charged with conspiracy to defraud, attempting to obtain money by false pretence, and making a false declaration in February 2015, was convicted last month.
It was reported that Phillips, along with his British wife and another man, conspired to fleece Guardian Life Insurance Company of the money.
According to the death certificate, Phillips had died at the Kingston Public Hospital from myocardial infarction and pneumonia.
Based on the information that was submitted on the insurance application forms, a doctor named Ivor Davis was listed as the one who had regularly attended to Phillips at the Olympic Medical Centre.
However, police investigations revealed that Phillips did not die at the Kingston Public Hospital and was never a patient there.
Further checks made with the Medical Association of Jamaica revealed that there was no doctor by that name registered to practise in the island. It was also found that the medical centre did not exist.
According to the court document, in December of last year, police visited Phillips’ sister at Omara Road in Kingston — the address which was listed on the insurance claim application as his home address — and was told that Phillips was not dead as she had spoken to him on Christmas Day. She also told the police that he lives in Clarendon.
Phillips was later arrested at his home in Clarendon and several documents were reportedly seized, including his phone, which had several text messages showing conversations with his wife related to the claim.
Phillips’ attorney told the court that her client had no previous conviction, however, Parish Judge Maxine Ellis insisted that she was not going to hand down a sentence without his records.
— Racquel Porter
