Five persons arrested in connection with an alleged multi-million dollar fraud at the Accountant General's Department were further remanded, and one granted bail, when they appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Charged with conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and obtaining money by means of false pretence are accounting technician Julio Parkinson, Rameish Watson, Anthony Munroe, and Kemar Lewis. Meisha Parkinson, who is the sister of Julio Parkinson, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Allegations are that between February and October this year, Julio Parkinson, in his position as an accounting technician at the department, manipulated the agency's pension system by creating fraudulent life certificates in the names of dead pensioners and two persons who were found to be alive, but living overseas. He then prepared pension payments amounting to approximately $21 million, which was further distributed to the bank accounts of his co-conspirators.
The court heard that Julio Parkinson was considered the mastermind of the fraudulent design, as he was reportedly, "aware of all the moving parts of the scheme".
Attorney-at-law Anthony Pearson, in making a bail application for his client Meisha Parkinson, told the court that she is a 32-year-old mother of one, who is a civil servant who has had no previous convictions, making her a prime candidate for bail.
Subsequently, Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey granted Meisha Parkinson bail in the sum of $2 million with surety. She was ordered to surrender her travel documents, and had a stop order made against her. Julio Parkinson, Watson, Munroe, and Lewis were further remanded in custody. All were ordered to return to court on December 9, pending a mention hearing.
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