The operations manager of boutique hotel in West End, Negril, Westmoreland has pleaded guilty to stealing millions of dollars from his employer’s bank account.

Paul Wilson appeared before Senior Parish Judge Broderick Smith in the Westmoreland parish court on September 1, when he pleaded guilty to an eight-count indictment.

A statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said Wilson will be sentenced on October 13, in the Westmoreland parish court.

The DPP’s statement outlined that, as the operations manager, Wilson had unrestricted access to the company’s four bank accounts.

It’s reported that in November 2020, the complainant checked the balances of the company’s bank accounts and realized that the company wasn’t performing as expected. 

The complainant brought this to the attention of Wilson, who reportedly told the complainant that the company was a victim of a credit card scam, which caused the depletion of the bank accounts.

During this time, the world was affected by the global covid pandemic and as a result, the complainant was residing primarily outside of Jamaica, but travelled back and forth over the course of a few months.

In June 2021, the complainant reviewed the company’s bank accounts and realized that Wilson made hundreds of unauthorized transfers to his personal bank account and to persons unaffiliated with the company.

On June 2 this year, a report was made to the police and Wilson was arrested.

The DPP said investigators found that on various dates, between September,1, 2020 and June, 2, 2021, Wilson made unauthorized wire transfers by using his unique user login to access the online banking platform and his token to authorize the transactions.

An audit revealed that over JA $ 9 m, as well as over US $ 300,000, were misappropriated.

Additionally, in February 2021, a loan application was submitted to the bank, on behalf of the company, for one hundred and twenty thousand u-s dollars.

The document reportedly had the signatures of both Wilson and the complainant, but the complainant denied applying for a loan.

Checks by an expert revealed that the complainant’s signature was forged.

The loan had been approved and the funds deposited into the company’s bank account.

Once deposited, Wilson reportedly transferred the money to his personal bank account and to other persons unaffiliated with the company.

Then in March 2021, the complainant wrote a cheque for U S $ 27,000 and gave it to Wilson, for operational expenses.

However, the company’s bank records revealed that this money was not used to pay any operational expenses.

Instead, it was transferred to Wilson’s personal bank account and to persons unaffiliated with the company or the complainant.

The DPP said on June 21, 2021 Wilson gave a caution statement, in which he stated that he was a victim of a credit card scam and as a result of the scam, he made unauthorized transfers from the company’s bank accounts.

However, when Wilson’s mobile phone was analyzed at the communication forensics and cyber crime division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, incriminating text messages where extracted.

These text messages depicted communication between Wilson and his accomplices, which demonstrated their conspiracy to steal money from the company’s bank account.

The DPP said the report produced by the police was a critical bargaining tool used by the prosecution to negotiate Wilson’s guilty plea on charges of conspiracy to defraud, access with intent to commit an offence, larceny as a servant, fraudulent conversion and obtaining credit by fraud.