Dick reveals fraud confession

Just over a week after the revelation that dozens of account holders at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) had been defrauded of billions of dollars, the Reverend Dr Devon Dick has disclosed that he counselled a woman in December who had defrauded a financial institution of a “significant amount of money”.

Dick did not identify the woman during his Sunday morning sermon at the Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew, which he pastors, but The Gleaner has learnt that the family members of the former SSL employee, who has been implicated in the $3-billion fraud, worship at the church and are long-time members of the denomination.

The elderly mother of the former SSL wealth adviser was reportedly in attendance for the sermon.

The veteran educator, who The Gleaner will not name because her daughter has not yet been charged, quoted scripture when contacted by this newspaper on Sunday.

“I'm just … God is my refuge and strength. A very present help in times like these. Therefore, I do not fear,” the woman said, before indicating that she was not able to speak further.

Efforts by The Gleaner to reach Dick for comment were unsuccessful as calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

Dick told the congregation that he was asked to counsel the woman just before Christmas but did not indicate who had made the request.

“They asked me to talk with her. So I spoke with her, and she said to me that she took the money to help some relatives with their personal expenses,” he told congregants.

“She did what she thought was good and right in her sight,” he added, noting that one of the country's leading crime fighters had indicated to him some time ago that women are more philanthropic with their thievery than men.

The former SSL employee, in a sworn affidavit, confessed to defrauding her clients to reportedly assist her ailing father, a former police chaplain, who has since died, as well as her brother.

Track and field star Usain Bolt, who is said to have been a client of the former wealth adviser, was also defrauded of US$12.7 million, although it is not clear how or by whom.

“One of the leading crime fighters in Jamaica told me that whenever you see a female defrauding a financial institution of money, it is usually for a noble cause. Unlike men, he said, who when they steal from a bank, normally show off, profile with it, and floss. The women are usually engaging in it for some noble cause,” Dick said.

However, he questioned whether the “noble” cause justified the means.

Dick cited Psalm 34:8, telling congregants that if they are in need of anything good, God can provide it.

He said that the Psalmist knew difficulties in his life, having been under the threat of death and violence, but could say that he experienced God as a protector.

Dick told church members that if they experienced God, their deeds, means, and ends would be good.

“It is saying to us three things: let us sidestep the forbidden fruit, and let us say that God is good, and let us stick to the good … . My brothers and sisters in Christ, there is this temptation from time immemorial, from the days of Adam and Eve, to be fooled by the forbidden fruit. To have a sense that something good can come out of this forbidden fruit.

“It looks good. It sounds reasonable, it appears rational, so let us taste the forbidden fruit, but the word is, don't touch it. Don't taste it. Don't go there,” he said.