WESTERN BUREAU:
FRAUD SQUAD investigators probing the operations of the Quick Cash Partner Plan in Lucea, Hanover, could not say definitively whether or not charges will be laid against the operator of the scheme Delores Dale.
Inspector Fitz Bailey, who headed the fivemember team that visited the parish twice last week, told The Gleaner that the matter is still under investigation.
"The process is ongoing and I can't say at this time whether charges will be laid against her, certainly we will have to go back to Lucea to have other things checked out," Inspector Bailey said.
Last Thursday, the investigators received 170 statements from depositors of their transactions with "Quick Cash Partner Plan." On Monday, detectives at the Lucea Criminal Branch (CIB) collected in excess of 60 statements.
According to the police some persons are still refusing to give written statements of their transactions for fear of not getting their money back, if charges are pressed against Mrs. Dale.
On a radio interview last week, Mrs. Dale said she is willing to repay depositors their money but will have to be offered protection by the police.
However, Sergeant Dowton Martin, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) parish liaison officer said no such request has been made formally to them by Mrs. Dale. "I have no knowledge of that," he said. "Even if she did, we wouldn't have a problem in providing her security." According to Sgt. Martin, Mrs. Dale remains elusive, as several attempts to contact her by phone proved futile.
Last Monday, chaos erupted in Lucea as thousands of angry depositors stormed the offices of "Quick Cash" in the Mid-Town Shopping Mall demanding the immediate return of their money, following rumours of the plan's impending closure.
When the operator failed to make repayment, they took to the streets burning debris, looting businesses, smashing police cars, slashing tyres and injuring police when Mrs. Dale sought refuge at the Hanover police headquarters.
Meanwhile, the three men charged with malicious destruction of property arising out of the riot were granted bail in the sum of $60,000 each when they appeared in the Lucea Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Conroy Streete, a 46-year-old mason of Barbary Hill; Sheldon Dias, a 37-year-old unemployed resident of Mount Carmel; and Eric Walker, a 38-year-old mason of West End, Negril, will go to trial on June 29 for damaging three police vehicles which were parked on the compound of the Hanover police headquarters.
