Montego Bay man remitted after paying job scam victims, still faces court

MONTEGO BAY, St James — A man who admitted conspiracy to defraud has returned $200,000 to two women caught in an employment fraud. Decarlos Christie’s payments settle part of the matter, yet he remains in custody because $57,000 is still due to one complainant, and prosecutors also cite a third alleged victim.

Christie, charged alongside his brother Bryan Christie, came before Judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce at the St James Parish Court on Wednesday. Two of the three complainants were present. One recovered the entire $52,000 she had handed over. The other collected $148,000 toward the $205,000 she says she lost.

Judge Grant-Pryce ordered that steps be taken to reach the third complainant. After Wednesday’s guilty plea, Christie was admonished and discharged on the count tied to the woman who was paid in full. He is to clear the remaining sum owed to the second complainant by July 29, the next court date.

Christie was kept on remand, while Bryan’s bail was continued. In court, Decarlos said Bryan had used his personal details without his knowledge or approval to move the money, and that this happened while Decarlos was locked up in St Ann on separate charges. He maintained he took no part in the alleged operation.

The Crown’s account is that in January the first complainant was phoned by a man who gave only the name “Mr Campbell” and said he could arrange work abroad. She was told to put $52,000 into a bank account held in Decarlos Christie’s name. Police say a second woman later paid $205,000 into that same account for the same purpose, and a third sent $10,000.

Investigators say the women were then told they would go to Kingston under the overseas employment plan. When those arrangements never followed, they reported the matter. During the probe, police reportedly recovered Decarlos’s bank card and account details from Bryan, which led to Decarlos being charged. Officers further allege that Bryan was the person posing as “Mr Campbell” and pitching the overseas jobs to the complainants.