MONTEGO BAY, St James — What began as a routine evening at Sangster International Airport quickly escalated into a high-stakes fraud investigation involving unauthorised foreign currency withdrawals, a damaged mobile phone, and two accused now facing charges in the St James Parish Court.

Barrington Mitchell and Shantel Pinnock, both of St James, now stand at the centre of a financial crime investigation, accused of making unauthorised withdrawals of US currency using a debit card not registered in their names.

The duo appeared before Judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton in the St James Parish Court on Tuesday, where they faced charges of possession of access device and conspiracy to use access device.

The case stems from a suspicious encounter on December 15.

Court documents reveal that Mitchell and Pinnock were seen making withdrawals from an automated teller machine (ATM) at the airport. But it wasn’t just the foreign currency that drew attention — it was their demeanour.

A watchful member of the security forces took note and approached.

It is alleged that the officer discovered the two in possession of a Walmart Visa debit card bearing the name Aaliyah Delfi. A ZTE mobile phone found on the scene was deliberately damaged by Mitchell in what appeared to be an attempt to destroy potential evidence as the officer tried to seize it.

The phone was sent to the Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division for analysis — a move that might have shed light on the extent of the operation. But in a dramatic revelation during Tuesday’s hearing, the court was told the phone was too severely damaged to yield forensic data.

Although the case is slated for transfer to Circuit Court, the process was delayed as the defendants’ sureties failed to appear and secure fresh bail.

“Miss Pinnock, Mr Mitchell, both of you will be coming back to court on July 15, 2025,” Judge Fairclough-Hylton declared.

“Persons who bail you need to be here on that day… The matter is going to be tried, and if you don’t have someone to bail you, you are going to be in custody,” she said before extending their bails.