Attorneys for both Andrew “French” Wright and Oneil Hope, both found guilty on multiple counts of fraud, say they will appeal the decision made by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Wright, Hope, and a third party, Rudolph Barnes, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud; acquisition, use, and possession of criminal property; engaging in transactions involving criminal property; and larceny as a servant. These charges arose after an internal audit led to an investigation by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency, which found that INSPORTS was defrauded a total of $222 million between 2010 and 2017.

Wright was arrested in 2013 while challenging INSPORTS on the grounds that he was wrongfully dismissed by the body.

Wright, more popularly known as a party promoter responsible for events such as Chug It and French Connection, formerly served as INSPORTS’ financial controller. On Tuesday, he was found guilty on 13 counts, or instances, of fraud by Justice Ann-Marie Lawrence-Grainger in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.

Attorneys-at-law Isat Buchanan and Alessandra LaBeach are Wright’s lawyers, but Buchanan was not present at Tuesday’s court session. LaBeach chose to say little to the media after the verdict, to avoid giving too many details on her legal team’s next course of action.

“The only thing I will say at this time is that we’re taking the necessary instructions to see what will be done in the future,” she said. “The next step is to appeal, naturally. We’ve already identified several grounds, and we’re eager to have this portion of it completed so that we can get the matter before the Court of Appeals.”

INSPORTS is an arm of the Government responsible for, among other sports-related duties, organising various competitions, youth development clinics, and equipment donations at the grassroots and primary school level. It, like other local sporting bodies, receives its funding from the Ministry of Sport.

The day’s session, which began at 10:00 am, lasted roughly three hours, with a 30-minute health break taken just after 11:30 am.

During the proceedings, Grainger explained in detail the findings of the court based on the evidence presented.

Although Wright, through his legal team, argued that Chug It was responsible for his profits, which Grainger described as substantial, the court rejected this claim, saying that while profits might have been earned from Chug It, the funding became “tainted” because of INSPORTS money being “so intertwined” with Chug It affairs.

Grainger mentioned testimony given by one witness, Jacqueline Evans, who said she had been employed by Wright for work during Chug It, which included cleaning and food preparation duties. While Evans officially earned a salary of $30,000, she was also made to cash INSPORTS cheques presented to her by another party, Karita Davis, who at the time was allegedly Wright’s spouse. Davis is, however, not standing trial because her whereabouts are unknown.

The money cashed from these cheques, Evans said, went to pay herself and five of Wright’s other workers in Wright’s private capacity, while some of the funding was returned to Davis. Grainger shared that these cheques totalled $13 million.

Wright’s team did, however, argue that Evans recanted her statement, but the court rejected this due to discrepancies in the documentation of the statement, saying it cannot be relied on.

The court believes there is a strong and inescapable inference to be drawn that Wright purchased property in Jack’s Hill, St Andrew, and a 2013-model year Audi vehicle in 2013, using, at least in part, benefits from the fraud carried out against INSPORTS. This has caused the court to treat both items as criminal property.

The court also found that money was deposited into Wright’s credit union account to obtain a loan to purchase the vehicle. This was evidenced by a witness from the credit union, who stated that the loan was not repaid, and the bank forfeited the sums from Wright’s account to cover the loans.

Wright argued that the money lodged to the credit union was from Chug It, but an examination of the transactions showed that there were deposits made in April and May of 2012, but none in several other months. About $10 million was deposited by Davis, and $5 million by Wright. The court found that there was a surge in deposits between 2012 and 2013, as opposed to those made amounting to $13 million lodged between 2008 and 2011, where Wright said he was operating what he described as a “thriving business,” not limited to parties but also other engagements. This was $21 million less than between 2012 and 2014, the period of the indictment, when Davis received cash proceeds.

The court found that Wright, Barnes, and Hope were aware of the fraudulent activity and aware that there were parties fraudulently benefiting from INSPORTS’ money.

The court found that Barnes authorised fraudulent invoices for individuals who were claimed to have done work and were entitled to be paid, but no proof of work was found. These invoices were used to generate cheques, which the Court said were cashed and resulted in the loss of several million dollars from INSPORTS. The Court also found that Wright approved and signed off on several payment vouchers, in the capacity of a payment officer, and approved payment of cheques in the names of persons who did no work on behalf of INSPORTS.

The essence of these charges is that a person must know he was doing an illicit act and receiving a benefit from it for himself or other persons.

As Wright, Barnes, and Hope were INSPORTS employees, the court had to prove that both were public servants and failed to act in the interest of public duty. It also had to prove an intention to gain a benefit either for themselves or other persons, which can loosely be referred to as knowledge. The court says neither challenged their label as public servants.

Grainger’s verdict came as no surprise to anyone in the courtroom, with all three men standing stone-faced and emotionless after being found guilty on numerous counts.

Barnes was found guilty on 11, while Hope was found guilty on eight. But Hope’s attorney, Seymour Stewart, will also file an appeal.

“We do not agree with the verdict,” Stewart said after the hearing. “Everything that my client, Mr Hope, did was duly and properly authorised from on high. We don’t believe that he should’ve even been charged, and we have already started the process to file our appeal.”

All three men have been remanded until their sentencing at 10 am on Friday, November 21.

Sherene Farquharson, Andrea Picton, and Jonnique Mills, three women who were INSPORTS employees at the time in question, were acquitted of any wrongdoing.

Andrew “French” Wright’s attorney Alessandra LaBeach

The National Arena, which houses INSPORTS’ offices