Grenada: Guilty plea from former policeman accused of fraud

A former police officer in Grenada has pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud at St George’s magistrates court.

Elvin Phillip, an online car dealer, had appeared earlier this year in front of Chief Magistrate Tamara Gill on a series of fraud charges.

He now appears to have accepted full responsibility for his actions, acting on the advice of his defence, says the Grenada Informer.

The charges surround the collection of cash from customers, as payment for the importation of vehicles that never got to their respective owners.

Clients were kept waiting months, and in some cases years.

According to information coming from the court, the charges date back to November 2015, when one customer was defrauded of $8,300, a second on 12 December 2016 regarding a $9,790 payment, a third on 21 December 2016 of $10,395, and the fourth customer on 12 January 2017 for the sum of $10,500.

The Grenada Informer is reporting that most of the customers, among them a retired police officer, had gone through the rigours of obtaining loans to make the payments.

Untruthful client

Phillip was convicted of similar charges in 2015.

When the matter appeared in court in March, Phillip assured the court through his then-attorney Francis Williams that most of the vehicles were on their way.

However, at a subsequent hearing in June, Williams withdrew from the case on the basis that his client was not truthful in passing on information to him.

Last week the prosecution hinted that there may be a new count of fraud to be added to the existing five.

Sentencing is due to take place on 1 August.

Original source: The Grenada Informer