Fraud trial of former Petrojam officials now under way
Published:Monday | May 9, 2022 | 11:55 AM
The fraud trial of former Petrojam general manager Floyd Grindley and former chairman Dr Percival Bahado-Singh is now under way in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
The accused were arrested and charged in relation to alleged fraudulent claims submitted to the state-owned refinery amounting to US$73,620 between December 2016 and May 2018.
It is being alleged that Bahado-Singh submitted the claims for overseas travel which he did not attend while Grindley is alleged to have aided and abetted the ex-chairman in the process used to make the fraudulent claims.
Initially, Grindley was facing eight counts of aiding and abetting, obtaining money by means of false pretense, while Bahado-Singh was to answer to 12 charges related to the US$73,620 that he allegedly improperly obtained as chairman of the oil refinery.
However, they were later slapped with new charges including fraudulent conversion, aiding and abetting fraudulent conversion, conspiracy to defraud, and one count of obtaining money by false pretense.
Both men were axed in 2018 as a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal alleging irregularities, nepotism and cronyism engulfed Petrojam.
Grindley is being represented by attorneys-at-law K.D. Knight, QC and Bianca Samuels while Bahado-Singh is being represented by attorneys-at-law Bert Samuels and Matthew Hyatt.
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