There seems to be no

end in sight for the ongoing investigation into the issuing of fake divorce

papers.

The latest

development in what has been a two-year-old investigation is that Jamaica’s

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck believes that members of the legal fraternity are

involved in the scheme where shysters issue fake Decree Absolute documents to

unsuspecting persons seeking to complete their divorces in short order.

A Decree Absolute is

a court of law’s final order officially ending a marriage, enabling either

party to remarry.

The Justice Minister

revealed on television recently that about a month ago, Jamaica’s Chief

Justice, The Honourable Mr Justice Bryan Sykes, received correspondence that

was also copied to him, from a law firm bringing attention to about nine of 10

cases of divorce where the final divorce documents turned out to be fake.

The documents, Chuck

said, though fake, were on what appeared to be legitimate letterheads from the

said law firm. However, the firms had no knowledge of these cases.

The news comes on

the heels of a recent court appearance of a sergeant of police, who, it is

alleged, has been offering forged divorce documents.

The matter came to

the light in late 2017 when persons, who believed they were divorced, began

turning up at the Registrar General Department seeking marriage licences.

Subsequent Investigations led to the arrest of four persons, including an employee at the Supreme Court, on charges of forgery, uttering forged documents and conspiracy. Among the victims

caught in the scheme was Melvin Samuels, who, in October 2017, was eventually

cleared of bigamy charges in the Cayman Courts after it was determined that he had

been duped by the shysters.

— Written by Chase