Portmore Car Salesman Adrian Cope Faces Fraud Charges Over Undelivered Vehicles

Police have charged a Portmore, St Catherine motor dealer with fraud after he is alleged to have taken deposit money from buyers and never handed over the vehicles.

Adrian Cope, 44, who works as a car salesman and is also known as Adri, faces counts of fraudulent conversion and breaches of the Consumer Protection Act. The charges stem from two separate complaints in his community on December 9 and December 16, 2020.

Portmore police said that on one of those dates, around 11:00 a.m., Cope collected $400,000 from a customer as a deposit toward buying a vehicle from overseas. Investigators said the buyer stayed in touch with him and was told the car would reach Jamaica by a set date, but it never arrived and the deposit was not returned.

In the second case, a female customer is said to have given Cope $210,000 plus US$800 as a deposit on a vehicle to be sourced from the United States. Police reported that this car was also never supplied and that she received no refund.

Both matters were later brought to the attention of law enforcement, and inquiries were opened. After a question-and-answer session held with his lawyer present, Cope was formally charged. Authorities said his first court appearance is still being arranged.