Clifton land fraud case transferred to Circuit Court

The case involving two women charged in connection with the fraudulent sale of subdivisions in Clifton, St Catherine, has been transferred to the St Catherine Circuit Court.

The accused are schoolteacher Suelyn Ward-Brown and labourer Natalie Walker, the citizen's association president for Clifton.

Ward-Brown is charged with breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act and the Law Reform Fraudulent Transactions Special Provisions Act and conspiracy to defraud, while Walker is charged with conspiracy to defraud.

When the matter was mentioned on Friday in the St Catherine Parish Court, the Clerk of Courts told Senior Parish Court Judge Desiree Alleyne that the women are go before the High Court, which has jurisdiction.

It was outlined that the charge of obtaining property by false pretence falls under Section 13 of the Law Reform Fraudulent Transactions Special Provisions Act of 2013.

Having read the Act, the judge ordered that the matter be transferred, and extended bail for the accused until April 27, 2024.

It is alleged that in 2022 Ward-Brown collected $4,000,000, from persons and issued receipts for parcels of land in Clifton which belong to the state.

An investigation was launched and Walker was also arrested and charged.

- Rasbert Turner

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