ASP, mom charged in alleged passport scam

Investigators in Antigua and Barbuda have charged a mother and son in relation to a suspected passport racket that has links with St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).A joint investigation saw police officers attached to the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) journeying to Antigua where they collaborated with investigators from the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.

Yesterday, Monday May 14, The Daily Observer in Antigua reported that suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police Ray Anthony John and his 63-year-old mother, Yvonne Nickie, were charged with five counts of conspiracy to forge Antigua and Barbuda passports, contrary to common law.John, 47, was further charged with the larceny of 54 multi layered infilling sheets and one multi layered infilling patch, valued at EC$21,700, the property of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport office.

John was also charged with receiving four multi layered infilling sheets and one multi layered infilling patch valued at EC$1,300, the property of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport office, knowing same to have been stolen.

The offences were allegedly committed between January and March this year.John is a Vincentian who migrated to Antigua. His mother is also a Vincentian.When the duo appeared at the St John’s Magistrates’ court before Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh for their bail hearing yesterday, they were each granted $50,000 bail.As part of their bail condition, they were each required to put down $10,000 cash and find two sureties.

They were also asked to report to the Parham Police Station daily, and surrender their travel documents.Last month, Nickie, who was in Antigua visiting her son, was stopped at the airport when she attempted to return to SVG. She was advised not to leave the country after a search was conducted at her son’s home but decided to leave anyway.

Nickie and John return to court on Wednesday July 11.On Monday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Frankie Joseph told SEARCHLIGHT that they have not received official confirmation from Antiguan law enforcement stating that charges had been laid in that country.

He added that up to press time, no one had been charged locally, but the relevant material had been forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and that entity has the final say on if a charge is to be laid.

The probe into what appears to be a passport racket began here after 4 a.m. on Friday, April 6, when members of the Drug Squad of the RSVGPF, acting on information received, went to Argyle in the area of the gap leading to the Argyle International Airport (AIA), where they observed one man handing over two envelopes to another.

The men, a 34-year-old resident of Green Hill and a 27-year-old resident of South Rivers were detained by police and questioned, and reports are that memory sticks with bio-page related information were also seized from one of the men’s car and a specialized printer, capable of replicating the Antigua and Barbuda passport bio page, was found at the same man’s home.

The South Rivers resident later told police that he was called by an uncle who resides in Antigua and asked to collect certain documents from a man at Argyle. The other man, according to our source, told local investigators that a senior member of the police force in Antigua, who was born in SVG, provided the money to buy the specialized printer, and requested that he print the bio-data pages found in the envelopes, then deliver them to a man at Argyle.

One of the envelopes seized contained five complete Antigua and Barbuda bio-data pages, including photographs of people who were born in Australia, Dubai and Sri Lanka. The other envelope contained three incomplete bio-data pages of individuals originating from Pakistan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.