WESTERN BUREAU:

The Montego Bay police are dismissing reports that the 44-year-old man who was kidnapped from his home in the western city, last Thursday, is an American citizen.

"The man was deported from the United States in 2005, and records show that he was born in St. Elizabeth. Based on his photograph, he looks like a Caucasian," explained Superintendent Steve McGreggor, head of the St. James police division.

Unknown assailants reportedly accosted the man, who has been identified as Howard 'Tim' Pattico, from his home in the Bogue Village area on June 14.

It is said that his kidnappers also took items of jewellery and a credit card when their demand for money was not met.

According to Supt. McGreggor, there is enough information to suggest that his kidnapping is "connected to the illicit lottery scam", which has already been linked to several murders in St. James.

"We are following strong leads at this time, and there are aspects of our investigation that cannot be made public at this time," the officer stated.

The multimillion-dollar lottery scam is reportedly being facilitated through unscrupulous information communication technology workers providing local scam artists with personal information on American citizens. They are then conned out of large sums of money under the guise that they are paying for a legitimate service.

The communities of Bogue Village and Granville are said to have a heavy concentration of scammers.