Fraud case against nurse could be dropped if prosecution is not ready

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Alleged fraudster Jahmesha Millwood
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By Latrishka Thomas

[email protected]

The prosecution has about two months to complete its file against a nurse who allegedly used another woman’s bank card to purchase over $20,000 worth of items online, without her permission.

In June, Jamesha Millwood who was suspended last year due to other alleged crimes, was slapped with 17 counts of fraud

The 29-year-old Bolans woman and the complainant were said to have travelled to Jamaica in late February 2020 to pursue a seven-month training course in emergency nursing at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

However, after about two weeks, the course was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but they had to remain in Jamaica due to the closure of the airports in both Antigua and Jamaica, and were only able to return home in April that year.

Both women returned to Jamaica in January 2021 to continue the course and were reportedly quarantined in the same room for about two weeks before the programme started.

While rooming together, it is said that the complainant told the accused about a business which she was planning to start.

In March 2021, the complainant reportedly went to a bank in Jamaica to make a withdrawal and noticed that her balance was far less than expected, so she contacted the bank in Antigua and requested a summary of her debit card transactions.

She reportedly noticed that a number of online purchases totalling $20,764.17 had been made over a period of time without her knowledge or consent.

The complainant subsequently reported the matter to the police who executed a search warrant on the premises of the defendant and allegedly found items which they believed had been purchased using the complainant’s card.

Millwood appeared in the St John’s Magistrate’s Court yesterday for the second time and was told that the prosecution was not ready to start the committal proceeding.

Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh therefore gave the police one final opportunity to have the file ready.

Should the file be complete on October 13, the Magistrate will indicate whether or not the case will proceed to the High Court. However, if the file is not complete, Walsh will dismiss the case for want of prosecution.

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