Call me a prophet because I did warn you!

Hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.  Since the SSL scandal, other Jamaican companies have uncovered millions of dollars of fraud!  And my prediction is that it’s not going to stop.

Since SSL in January, here are five other creative ways that employees allegedly stole money from their companies.

Number 5 is Heart Trust/National Training Academy. Total scammed: $8 million, or about US$51,000.  Police arrested a suspect at the airport as he was attempting to flee the country in May.  He’s one of five people implicated in the scam.  The five of them allegedly moved money from Heart into the accounts of people who didn’t work at Heart, and had no kind of business with Heart at all.

Number 4 goes to Burger King. Total scammed – $10 million.  That’s about US$64 thousand.  Five employees of the Harbour View branch were slapped with several fraud charges for a scam that was going on for at least three months.  One of the accused women even reportedly used her share of the teefings to buy a taxi! So she didn’t just go spree.  She actually invested the stolen money.

Number 3- NCB.  Total scammed – $22 million. This one came out right around the time of SSL. A wealth advisor was accused of fraudulently withdrawing US$143,000 from a client’s account between 2020 and 2022. Thomas was charged with forgery, uttering forged documents, access with intent to computer data, larceny as a servant, and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property. 

Number 2 – Seprod. Total scammed – $160 million.  That’s over US$1 million.  Two IT employees reportedly manipulated the company’s computer system to facilitate fraud.  Twenty-four other employees, including drivers and assistants, allegedly collected goods from Seprod warehouses, sold the goods and kept the money.

And number 1 goes to INSPORTS! Total scammed -$222 million Jamaican dollars.  That’s about US$1.4 million.  Three people, including a popular party promoter, have been arrested for fraud dating back to 2017. 

The three men were allegedly part of a team of former INSPORTS employees who wrote, signed and cashed fraudulent cheques for payees who didn’t work at Insports or have any kind of business with them.

So that’s a grand total of $422 million in fraud uncovered since SSL in January. That’s about US$2.7 million.  And that’s just the ones we know about.