Adrian Frater, News Editor

ACP Denver Frater. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Western Bureau: While there appears to be a lull in the investigation of the illicit multimillion-dollar Montego Bay 'lottery scam', senior police investigators say it should not be misconstrued as inactivity as they are close to bringing down the major players.

"It is long, hard and painstaking work because it involves people who live outside of our jurisdiction," said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Denver Frater, the head of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). "While we can't divulge too much at this time, I think it is safe to say that we are making significant headway."

The scam, which has left several inner-city communities awash with cash, but which is also being blamed for a spate of recent gangland-style killings in Montego Bay, is also being described as a major threat to the local information technology sector, whose clients are the primary victims of the scam.

Overseas Partners

"We are now getting solid assistance and cooperation from our overseas partners, " said ACP Frater. "As a consequence, we are now better able to cross some of the hurdles that were hampering our investigations in the past."

While there has also been a lull in the number of killings directly associated with the scam since the start of this year, ACP Frater said two recent gangland-style killings - one in Mt. Salem and the other in Bogue Village - were being investigated for possible links with the scam.

The infamous scam, which is operated by persons known as 'diallers', involves illicitly obtaining personal information about American citizens, who are then conned into sending money on the pretext that they had won a lottery and needed to send money to clear their winnings.

When the scam first came to public attention last year, the police were hampered in their investigations as victims of the scam refused to come to Jamaica to testify in court because of factors such as travel costs and the fact that they would be required to take time off from work."

However, late last year, a woman, who was reportedly fleeced of US$119,000 by a local 'dialler' reportedly agreed to come to Jamaica and testify against the woman whom she had helped local and overseas investigators to nab.

Late last year, while the scam was all the rage and was reportedly spreading to sections of Hanover and Westmoreland, Lynda Langford, country operations manager at Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), which operates out of the Montego Bay Free Zone, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum that the scam was putting the jobs of the 1,400 employed to her company in jeopardy.

No successful business can operate in a climate like this; it is just not possible," said Ms. Langford, noting that unless things improved, ACS would consider pulling out of the country.

However, ACP Frater said he is now confident that police is on the verge of breaking the back of the scam. "As I said, we can't divulge too much at this time, but we are close to bringing down those who are involve in this scam."