Two people have been charged in connection with an $80 million phishing scam at the National Commercial Bank (NCB).

26-year-old, Shanielle Smith and 24-year-old Brandon Billings of Nannyville, Kingston and Twickenham Park, St. Catherine, respectively were arrested at their homes on Wednesday.

This followed an early morning operation conducted by Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) agents and police from the St. Catherine South and St Andrew Central divisions.

They were both charged with receiving stolen property and engaging in a transaction involving criminal property.

MOCA says the two are suspected of being part of an organized criminal syndicate that stole over $80 million from NCB customers between April 2022 and December 2023, using a sophisticated phishing and smishing cyber scam.

According to Director of Communications at MOCA, Major Basil Jarrett, law enforcement teams from MOCA and the JCF conducted simultaneous operations at the two addresses to execute search and arrest warrants.

A MOCA statement says both suspects were held and a number of evidentiary items seized.

Smith and Billings were taken to MOCA headquarters and were charged this morning.

Major Jarrett says MOCA is unrelenting in pursuing those responsible for this theft, adding that fraud and other cyber-crimes of this nature are high on MOCA’s agenda due to their increasing occurrence in the criminal underworld.

He says some 17 people have been arrested so far.