Kingston – Promoter Andrew Wright, identified for common occasions comparable to French Connection and the seashore fiesta Chug It, was yesterday discovered responsible of a number of fraud-related expenses within the House Circuit Courtroom, stemming from a $222-million scheme uncovered at INSPORTS.
Wright, who served as INSPORTS’ monetary controller, was convicted alongside former colleagues Rudolph Barnes and Oneil Hope. Wright was discovered responsible on 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud, in addition to one depend every of partaking in a prison transaction, corruption, and facilitating the retention of prison property. Barnes was convicted on 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and one depend of corruption, whereas Hope was discovered responsible on six conspiracy expenses and one depend of buying prison property. All three males have been remanded and are scheduled for sentencing on November 21.
The case centred on allegations that the trio, as a part of a wider community of present and former INSPORTS workers, orchestrated the creation and cashing of fraudulent cheques made out to people who have been neither employed by nor contracted to the company.
The scheme got here to mild following a 2017 inside audit, which was referred to the Main Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Company (MOCA). The company performed a prolonged investigation, finally ensuing within the arrests and expenses. Wright was taken into custody in April 2023 whereas attending an unrelated Industrial Disputes Tribunal case.
Three feminine co-defendants – Andrea Picton, Sherene Farquharson, and Jonnique Mills – have been acquitted in current days. Picton and Farquharson, each former INSPORTS accounting clerks, and Mills, who had additionally confronted a number of expenses, have been cleared of conspiracy and corruption allegations.
Attorneys for Wright and Hope have indicated plans to attraction the convictions.