Former operations manager pleads guilty to multimillion–dollar fraud at Negril Hotel
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Former operations manager Paul Wilson has pleaded guilty to defrauding a boutique hotel in West End, Negril of millions of dollars over a period spanning several months.
Wilson, who had served as the hotel’s operations manager for more than five years up to June 2021, admitted in the Westmoreland Parish Court on September 1, 2025, to an eight-count indictment that includes conspiracy to defraud, access with intent to commit an offence, larceny as a servant, fraudulent conversion, and obtaining credit by fraud.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Wilson had unrestricted access to the company’s four bank accounts, which he used to pay staff salaries, utility bills, operational expenses, and government taxes.
An investigation revealed that between September 2020 and June 2021, Wilson made hundreds of unauthorised wire transfers from the hotel’s accounts to his personal account and to individuals not associated with the company. The audit found that J$9,333,965.69 and US$340,899.69 had been misappropriated.
In February 2021, a loan application for US$120,000 was submitted to the company’s bank bearing the forged signature of the complainant. Once approved and deposited into the company’s account, the funds were diverted by Wilson to his personal account and to others not associated with the company.
Additionally, in March 2021, a cheque for US$27,000 provided for operational expenses was also misappropriated in a similar manner.
Wilson initially claimed he was a victim of credit card scam causing him to make unauthorised transfers from the company’s bank accounts, but digital forensics conducted by the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Communication Forensics and Cybercrime Division (CFCD) uncovered incriminating text messages between Wilson and accomplices, outlining their conspiracy to steal funds.
The ODPP credited the CFCD’s report as a critical bargaining tool in securing Wilson’s guilty plea.
Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced on October 13 in the Westmoreland Parish Court.
The prosecution was led by A Hall, Crown counsel at the ODPP, while Wilson was represented by attorney-at- law Shane Walker.
