Forex trader ‘Pajama Billionaire’ freed after BGLC no-show for trial

Popular foreign exchange (forex) trader Chavez Allen, who goes by the moniker 'Pajama Billionaire', who the police said had illegally conducted a car raffle, was yesterday freed of breaching the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act.

The case against the 27-year-old was thrown out by Chief Parish Judge Chester Crooks in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court for want of prosecution following a request from attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie Q.C for the Crown to either start or dismiss the matter against his client.

The attorney argued that the prosecution has continuously failed to have the main witness, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), present despite its valiant efforts.

Noting that the witness had in the past shown scant regard for the court, Champagnie expressed that the witness was present earlier in the morning session of the court but it was uncertain whether he would return for the start of the trial.

The witness did not return and when contacted he could give a definitive time for his return due to work-related matters.

Champagnie then told the judge that over the last two years his client had endured severe economic hardship as he had to be travelling from out of parish for court.

As a result, the judge dismissed the case against Allen for want of prosecution.

Allen was arrested following reports in November 2020 that the BGLC had received information that an illegal raffle was advertised by him on social media platforms where a Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle and cash prizes were being offered to the public.

The regulatory body conducted checks and its Licensing and Registration Division conducted an investigation to verify if the raffle had been granted approval.

The BGLC indicated that no approval was granted for the hosting of the raffle.

On November 15, 2020, more than 3,000 social media users tuned in to Allen's Instagram live session where the holder of ticket 183 was announced as the winner of a Mercedes-Benz CLA-250, valued at J$5 million.

But Allen had later indicated that the competition, which started months earlier in June, was actually a private in-house raffle for students enrolled in his forex trading classes.

Raffle tickets were sold for US$50 (approximately J$7,500) each.

Attorney-at-law Richard Lynch also represented Allen.

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