Barmaid on larceny charge makes partial repayment

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:A St James woman who allegedly embezzled approximately $130,000 from her employer paid back a portion of the money when she appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Twenty-nine-year-old Dacy-Ann Kerr, who is of Mount Salem in Montego Bay, is charged with larceny as a servant, committed against Lorraine Harris. She had her bail extended until May 19 with the expectation that she would pay the balance on that date.

The allegations are that sometime in August 2013, Kerr was employed to work at a bar, and was given instructions to collect rent for Harris, who was going to the United States at the time.

It is further alleged that on January 27, 2014, Harris returned from overseas, and while taking inventory of the establishment's funds, she discovered that $130,000 was missing from the business-place's money pan. A report was made to the police, and Kerr was subsequently arrested and charged.

On Monday, when the presiding magistrate Wilson Smith asked Kerr to pay the money, the defendant paid over $55,000 to the court.

The case was subsequently set for May 19, at which time Kerr is expected to bring the balance of $75,000.