A woman accused of stealing over $140,000 from her employer has been diligently making consistent payments towards her restitution.

Elaine Baker, who hails from St James, has been charged with embezzlement.

When the case was heard in St James Parish Court on Friday, Baker handed over $7,000 to the complainant. She has a remaining balance of $15,500.

Presiding Judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley then extended Baker’s bail until December 8. The court is anticipating that she will be able to complete her payment that day.

According to court records, Baker was employed by the complainant to work at a bar.

Between March 1 and March 21 she removed money from the till amounting to $147,000, for her personal gain.

When confronted by the complainant she confessed to taking the money.

There was an out-of-court agreement for Baker to repay the money, but that was not honoured, resulting in the matter being reported to the police and her subsequent arrest.

Barbadian gets six months for cocaine smuggling

A Barbadian man who was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle about $16 million worth of cocaine was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and fined $600,000 when he appeared in St James Parish Court on Friday.

The defendant, Kelvin Charles, pleaded guilty to possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export cocaine before Presiding Judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley.

Reports are that about 10:00 pm on October 26 Charles was about to board a flight from Sangster International Airport in St James to London when his luggage was searched. During the inspection a package with two kilogrammes of cocaine was found.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

In addition to the six-month sentence Charles was ordered to pay a fine of $200,000 or spend six months in prison for possession of cocaine, and $400,000 or six months for attempting to export cocaine, with the sentences to run consecutively if the fines are not paid. He was admonished and discharged for dealing in cocaine.

Charles will spend a total of 18 months in prison if the fines are not paid.