NEVILLE DAVIDSON, a Jamaica Defence Force soldier, was charged this week in connection with fraud involving the withdrawal of millions of dollars from the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT ) through its ATMs (Automated Teller Machines), in December last year.
He appeared in court along with 20 others who are also charged in connection with the scam.
The accused, including Davidson, have all pleaded guilty to the charges.
Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle yesterday put off sentencing to March 10 to allow time to study the probation reports. Some of the men had pleaded guilty in January and February.
Five of the accused persons are from the Corporate Area while the others are from St. James and Westmoreland. Orlando Malahoo of Westmoreland, who had been in custody since his arrest in December, was offered bail yesterday in the sum of $300,000 with a surety. Malahoo had received $500,000 from the ATM machine and had used the money to purchase a car. The police seized the car.
One of the men, Eric Allen, yesterday disputed the claim that he withdrew $1 million from the ATM machine. "If I had received that amount I would not be here," he said. He claims that he only got $150,000.
The police, on January 7, said they were hunting for 800 bank customers islandwide for questioning in the $23 million scam. Fraud Squad detectives revealed that the theft occurred between December 25 and 26 last year and that persons used their RBTT debit cards to withdraw monies that were not in their personal accounts. The thefts occurred at various ATM locations across the island.
