MOCA arrests ‘key player’ in multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud case
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Another suspect has been arrested in the multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud which targeted several financial institutions across the island between January 2023 and April 2024, joining a medical doctor and two others implicated in the case.
The Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) said the 36-year-old suspect was arrested on Wednesday at the Kingston Central Police Station, where he was reporting on pre-charge bail for the offences of breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and conspiracy to defraud.
He is the fourth person to be arrested in connection with the fraud, following the arrest and charge of 30-year-old Chloe Douett, a medical doctor of Cherry Gardens, Kingston; 29-year-old Ivana Campbell, executive assistant of Cedar Grove, Portmore, and 44-year-old Dwayne Pitter of Olympic Gardens, Kingston.
All four are accused of being part of an organised criminal syndicate that carried out an elaborate and highly sophisticated multimillion-dollar fraud scheme against several banks and financial institutions between January 2023 and April 2024. The suspects are alleged to have carried out the fraud through the submission of fraudulently obtained genuine documents and fraudulent identification documents which allowed them to bypass security protocols and identity confirmation measures at the banks.
Last January, MOCA charged Douett with uttering forged documents, demanding property on forged documents, conspiracy to defraud and failure to safely store a firearm. The agency also charged Pitter with breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act, the Forgery Act and Conspiracy to Defraud at Common Law, in relation to similar but separate conduct.
Campbell and Pitter were also charged by the Financial Investigations Division (FID) with breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the Larceny Act, the Forgery Act, and the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions and Special Provisions) Act, as well as conspiracy to defraud at common law.
The latest suspect is expected to be charged shortly.
