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A 58-year-old woman charged in connection with an alleged $110-million loan fraud scheme is scheduled to appear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court today, while five other accused in the case have been granted bail. Admarie Ashman, a self-employed woman from the Kingston 3 area, was arrested and charged on Tuesday following a search of her home. Ashman is one of six people charged in connection with an alleged scheme in which loans totalling approximately $110 million were obtained from a prominent financial institution using forged and fictitious documents between January 2023 and De...

THE Financial Investigations Division (FID) is reporting that six people have been arrested and charged following a joint investigation with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) into an alleged fraudulent loan scheme totalling approximately $110 million. According to the FID, the loans were obtained from a prominent financial institution between January 2023 and December 2024 through applications supported by forged and fictitious documents. The agency also said that loan proceeds were then moved through bank accounts held by third parties. The FID identified the six individuals charged as E...

THE Financial Investigations Division (FID), in its capacity as Jamaica’s assets recovery agency under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), has secured a Pecuniary Penalty Order of $62 million against businessman Ou Yongjia, following his convictions for unauthorised use of a trademark and misleading and deceptive conduct. The order was made by consent in the Home Circuit Court of the Supreme Court on October 2, 2026, pursuant to Section 5(3)(b) of POCA. As the initial sum payable under the order, Yongjia agreed to forfeit $20 million held in bank accounts that were restrained by the Supreme Co...

Two senior public officials are among 13 people who prosecutors no longer intend to call as witnesses in the fraud trial involving former Education Minister Ruel Reid, defence attorneys have revealed. Their names are being withheld because the media has been asked not to reveal the names of witnesses in the trial. They were among more than 90 witnesses listed on the indictment. However, Linda Wright, the attorney representing Reid, revealed in court on Tuesday that she and the other defence attorneys in the case have been notified of the change by prosecutors. “We are not relying on the ev...

A former senior member of staff of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) is expected to continue testimony regarding the school’s finances on Wednesday, with information on the now-defunct CAP-YES programme, in the fraud trial of former CMU boss Fritz Pinnock along with former education minister Ruel Reid and their co-accused. The witness, appearing before Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday, testified how money came into and left certain bank accounts controlled by the university between 2016 and 2019, including accounts for payroll, CA...