A series of collaborative operations with local and international agencies in Hanover and Westmoreland over the May 10-18 period has resulted in the arrest and charge of three suspected lottery scammers.

Acting on intelligence provided by the Financial Investigations Division (FID), various targets were apprehended by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Area 1 Operational Support Team, Westmoreland Police, Counter Terrorism & Organized Crime Investigations Branch (CTOC), Major Organised Crime and Anticorruption Agency (MOCA), with support from United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Fusion Centre.

The operations resulted in the seizure of over US$10,000 cash, a 2014 Toyota Mark X and lottery scamming paraphernalia to include cellular phones, US-based bank cards, a laptop computer and an assortment of financial documents.

The individuals apprehended are:

• Shannon Taylor-Christie, a 37-year-old bar operator of a Flamstead/Kingsvale address in Hanover.
• Deck Evans, a 31-year-old party promoter of Whitehall District, Westmoreland
• Shane Blagrove o/c “Big Meech”, a 29-year-old unemployed man of a Prospect District address in Green Island, Hanover.

Evans and Blagrove were charged with breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transaction) (Special Provision) Act. Taylor-Christie was charged with breaches of the Larceny Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

Blagrove will appear in the Hanover Parish Court on June 2, while Evans and Taylor-Christie are scheduled to appear in the Westmoreland Parish Court on June 6.

Keith Darien, principal director of investigations at the FID, noted, “The persons apprehended are believed to be directly involved in defrauding elderly United States nationals of over US$100,000. Their arrest is a demonstration of the effectiveness of cross-border and local collaboration which has been strategically strengthened and refocused over recent years.

Regardless of the jurisdiction in which Jamaicans commit financial crimes, once a mutual legal assistance treaty exists, it will be leveraged to bring these persons to justice and deprive them of their illicit wealth. We continue to urge Jamaicans to direct their creative energies into wholesome, legitimate endeavours instead of aspiring to criminality.”