Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
SENIOR RESIDENT Magistrate Winsome Henry on Wednesday ordered conditions to be attached to the bail of the 10 former employees of the Cornwall Regional Hospital charged with conspiracy to defraud the institution of $2.3 million.
All 10 pleaded not guilty when they appeared for the first time on Wednesday and had their bail extended until July 27 when the charges will be mentioned.
The judge appeared surprised when she learned there were no conditions attached to their bail and ordered that each report to the police every Monday between 6:00 a.m and 6:00 p.m until the case is concluded. Nine of the 10 will report to the Freeport Police Station, while Lenford Allen will report to the Spring Mount Police Station in South St. James.
LARGE OVERPAYMENTS
The court also heard that the alleged mastermind, a former payroll clerk, Brian Anglin, had not turned up for work since the scam had been discovered and is still being sought by the police.
The court heard that there were large overpayments made out, sometimes more than the normal salaries of the payees, prompting the judge to ask the accused "if they thought they were getting bonuses every pay day".
The largest total layout went to Neil Dally, who got $443,000 over nine pay days. Derrick Kirton also got a total of $375,000 over 11 pay days.
The other accused persons are Witbert Sampson, Donna Lodrick, Hopeton Grant, Craig Franklin, Mauleen Dolphy, Dean Gillings, Lenford Allen, and Vincent Clarke.
The allegations against the accused persons are that between January and June this year, they knowingly accepted overpayments on their fortnightly salaries. The scam was discovered during an internal audit.
The police also alleged that in interviews on June 24, all the accused admitted knowing about the overpayments and gave varying accounts of what they did with the money and said the overpayments came from Anglin.
