A St James man, who was arrested and charged on breaches of the Lotto Scamming Act, was granted bail when he appeared before the St. Ann’s Bay Resident Magistrate Court on Tuesday, September 8.Charged for breaches of the Law Reform Fraudulent Transaction (Special Provisions Act of 2013), commonly called the Lotto Scamming Act is twenty-four-year-old Horace Davis, a vendor of Lilliput, St. James.The allegations are that at about 10:30 p.m., police attached to the Proactive Investigative Unit (PIU) were conducting an operation in Buckfield, Ocho Rios, St. Ann in which a house was searched. It was being allegedly occupied by Davis and other men.Davis was held in possession of 31 lead sheets, each containing 40 pieces of identity information of persons living overseas. When calculated, this amounted to a total of 1,240 foreigners listed. In addition, Davis was found with a hardcover book containing the identity information of additional persons living overseas. Other items seized were one labtop computer, two magic jacks, three cell phones, a connecting modem, earpiece, headsets and a landline phone with connecting equipment.Davis was interviewed in the presence of his attorney Robert Brown and was charged on Wednesday, September 2.
NO CONFESSION
In court on Tuesday, attorney Robert Brown explained to presiding resident magistrate Peter Wilson that during the question and answer session with his client, he did not admit to having in his possession the identity information of any persons. He said that the accused man was allowed to stay in the house and had given his bag to the police.In response, the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant, Kirk Nicholls explained that a statement was on the file from the landlord saying that the house was rented to Mr Davis. The officer also explained that, before the police arrived, Davis attempted to destroy some of the evidence that was found in his possession.In reviewing the arguments presented before him, Resident Magistrate Peter Wilson granted bail for the accused man in the sum of $250,000 with one or more sureties. He is to reside at Providence Heights, Flanker, St. James with his mother. He is also to report to the Coral Gardens Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The accused man was also subject to a curfew order between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.He is to return to court on October 6 for the case to be mentioned.
