Montego Bay lotto scammer convicted - Hanover woman gets prison time
November 12, 2008
A Hanover woman became the first person to be convicted for activities connected to the infamous multimillion-dollar MoBay lotto scam yesterday, when the verdict was read in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.
Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry sentenced Kerry-Ann Graham, a 25-year-old former employee of a call centre in the Montego Free Zone, to serve three years at hard labour.
Fleeced us citizen
Graham was convicted of fleecing United States citizen, 76-year-old Beverley Rinker, out of US$127,000 (almost J$8 million).
The convicted woman, who had initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges of conspiracy to defraud and obtaining by false presence, yesterday instructed her attorney Carl Miller to change her plea to guilty after Rinker flew in from the United States for the case to give evidence.
"This is just the beginning as we have other persons (scammers) awaiting trial and we are still busily pursuing other persons who are still involved in the scam," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Denver Frater, officer with responsibility for Area One (Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland).
During the trial, which started on Monday, the court was told that Graham contacted Rinker by telephone in June 2005, saying she was calling from International Sweepstakes and Lotteries to inform her that she had won US$3.5 million.
Graham reportedly told Rinker that she was the attorney for International Sweepstakes and Lotteries and that, in order to collect the winnings, the complainant had to send her US$3,000 by cheque to process her winnings, which she did.
Payments for 'winnings'
Between June 2005 and January 2006, Rinker was reportedly asked to make other payments for various fees related to her 'winnings'.
When she finally became convinced that it was a scam, Rinker engaged the support of local law enforcement officers to help her recover her money. Local investigations led to Graham's arrest....
Author: Adrian Frater
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
