Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Spanish Town, St. Catherine:

Robert Panton, 45-year-old labourer, was convicted in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday and given a six-month suspended sentence for two years, for several counts of defrauding persons of thousands of dollars, by telling them that he was working for an International Employment Agency.

Panton, who is of a Kingston address, is said to have collected $170,000 from several women in Spanish Town, Portmore and Old Harbour.

Recruiting workers

According to arresting officer, Jason Ricketts, of the Spanish Town CIB, between September 1 and the end of October, Panton met his victims and told them he was sent to recruit workers to be employed in hotels in England and the United States.

He would collect their passports and birth certificates and they would them be taken to the United States Embassy where he would then leave them at the gate and disappear.

On November 15, however, his luck ran out as two of his victims spotted him in Spanish Town. They summoned the police and related the sequence of events to the lawmen. Panton was subsequently charged with six counts of fraudulent conversion. He pleaded guilty when he appeared before RM Lorna Errar Gayle, who subsequently sentenced him to six months hard labour, suspended for two years.

The judge also warned him to keep the peace. He made restitution to his victims in court.