Kingston lawyer freed
Published:Friday | June 27, 2008 | 3:41 PM
The Court of Appeal has freed Kingston Attorney-at-law Vincent Chen of fraud charges this morning.
Chen was a former partner in the law firm Clinton Hart and Company.
He was convicted in 2003, in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrates Court of conspiracy to defraud.
The main complainant in the case was Fay Tortello, a Justice of the Peace.
It was alleged that Chen defrauded the trust fund Capstan Investment Limited, which Tortello’s husband had set up.
It is reported that Chen defrauded the trust fund of $10.5 million.
It was also alleged that he conspired with Caribbean Trust Finance investment Limited to defraud Ronald Sasso of $10 million.
The Court of Appeal freed Chen on the basis that the case was one in which the complainant made an unwise investment.
The court indicated that Tortello received her interest payments and then created an uproar, which propelled the collapse of the company.
The court further ruled that the convictions could not stand.