A 44-year-old customs broker is to spend four more months in jail after he was sentenced this month for his role in a multi-million-dollar credit card fraud operation targeting the government’s customs revenue system.

Nathiel Graham was sentenced to a total of three years when he appeared in the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Court on Friday, July 11.

A joint investigation by the Financial Investigations Division (FID) and the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) led to his conviction.

It comes after the JCA made a report to the FID concerning suspicious activities on its e-payment platform, used for the payment of customs duties on imported motor vehicles and goods.

Graham was found to have fraudulently used credit card information from five individuals to make payments totalling over $12 million.

These unauthorized transactions triggered chargebacks from financial institutions, resulting in significant financial losses to the state and undermining the integrity of an important source of national revenue: the importation of goods.

The FID says Graham has remained in custody since his trouble with the law started on November 28, 2022, when he was arrested and charged for offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

While in custody, on July 4, 2023, he was charged for unrelated but similar offences.

On September 19, 2024, Graham pleaded guilty to several financial crimes.

These include six counts of engaging in a transaction involving criminal property, for which he will serve two years, and four counts of obtaining money by means of false pretence, for which he will serve two years.

Graham was also found guilty of eight counts of fraudulent conversion for which he will serve three years.

The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning Graham is expected to be released in November 2025.

While commenting on this matter, FID’s Senior Director of Legal Services, Courtney Smith warned persons against engaging in similar criminal activity.