Glen labourer sent to prison for fraud

It appeared as if 23-year-old Ola Thomas’ ambition to become a competent con artist failed him miserably.

Thomas, a labourer of Glen, will spend the next 12 months at her Majesty’s Prison reflecting on his deceitful acts.{{more}}

On Friday, January 20, Thomas was arrested and charged for stealing two bankbooks belonging to Shemiah Simmons of Glen, impersonating Shemiah Simmons with intent to defraud Ollando Richardson and Donna Glasgow, employees at RBTT bank, and making and using four false instruments (withdrawal slips). These incidents occurred between Wednesday, February 23 and Friday, June 3, 2005.

When Thomas appeared at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court last Monday, all the charges were read before him and he was able to plead on the theft charges.

When he appeared before Senior Magistrate, Carl Joseph he pleaded guilty to stealing the bankbooks.

Reports state that on Wednesday, February 23, 2005, Thomas, who occupied a house with Simmons at the time, went into Simmons’ bedroom and stole his bankbook, then proceeded to forge Simmons’ signature on a withdrawal slip. He went to RBTT bank with the withdrawal slip and presented bank teller, Donna Glasgow with the forged withdrawal slip made out for $1,000.

Simmons later saw that his bankbook was missing and reported the matter to the bank. He was then told that $1,000 was missing from his savings. Simmons was presented with a new bankbook.

On Friday, June 3, 2005, Thomas repeated his act by stealing Simmons’ new bankbook and withdrew another $1,000 from Simmons’ bank account. When it was his turn to speak, Thomas said he was going to compensate Simmons for all the monies he took but said he had not seen him since last year.

As for the other charges he was not able to enter a plea, as a preliminary investigation into the matter will commence on Tuesday, February 28, 2006.