Fraud charges, JP document case and stolen property appeal feature in Jamaica court news

Several crime and court matters are moving through Jamaica’s justice system, including an alleged online vehicle-sale fraud, document-related charges against two men linked to the justice of the peace office, a police appeal over suspected stolen goods in Manchester, and a St. James drug penalty case.

In the vehicle matter, Janice Shaw and Deil Riley appeared before Judge Naticia Fairclough-Hylton on Wednesday on allegations arising from a Facebook listing for a repossessed 2013 black Subaru advertised at $250,000. Court documents say the complainant made contact with the seller in September 2025 and first paid $250,000 into an account in Shaw’s name. He was later allegedly asked on September 30 to send $400,000 to an account in Riley’s name by a man claiming to be an auction manager. Further payments of $110,000, $66,000 and $50,000 were allegedly demanded before the vehicle was to be released or delivered. The vehicle was not handed over, and the matter went to the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch fraud squad. Shaw and Riley are charged with unlawfully making available a computer device for an offence and conspiracy to defraud. Riley also faces a charge involving a transaction with criminal property. Bail was extended, and the case is to be mentioned on June 24.

In Manchester, police charged Marvin Dean, 46, of Cross Keys and Newport, and Dudley Powell, 64, a businessman of Glenspaulding on the Clarendon-Manchester border, after an operation at the Island Traffic Authority’s Mandeville Service Hub. Police allege the men posed as medical doctors and signed driver’s licence application forms. Dean, described as a decommissioned JP, faces 12 offences, including impersonating a doctor, forgery, uttering forged documents, possession of false documents, conspiracy, attempted bribery and stamp- and seal-related charges. Powell, identified as a current JP, faces four charges, including cheating the public revenue, conspiracy, misuse of an official seal and misconduct in public office. Custos Garfield Green said Dean was decommissioned in 2024 over alleged charging for JP services and reminded the public that JP services are free.

Manchester police are also asking burglary victims to visit the Mandeville Police Station to identify recovered items seized in Malgully. Investigators are seeking Damian Biggs for questioning. The recovered goods include electronics, appliances, household items, curtains, plumbing fixtures, toilets, faucets and doors.

In St. James, a man identified as Uretha Ferr, convicted in 2014 for cocaine-related offences, has said he would serve prison time rather than pay an $11.8-million pecuniary penalty order issued on January 26, 2021. He was arrested on April 28 along Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay over the alleged breach. His bail was extended for case management on June 29.