Police accounting clerk found guilty in $4.5m allowances fraud as MOCA closes multiple cases

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Two former employees of the security services have been found guilty in separate cases involving embezzlement and firearms breaches, according to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA)

In a statement on Monday, MOCA said in one matter, Gwendolyn Ward, a senior accounting clerk of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), was found guilty on multiple counts of falsification of accounts, forgery and embezzlement when the case was heard in the St Andrew Parish Court on Friday, March 13, 2026.

Reports are that Ward was arrested following a 2015 MOCA investigation launched in response to a report from the JCF Finance Branch into a fraudulent allowance scheme involving JCF personnel.

At least four police personnel were found to have improperly received allowances totalling more than J$4.5 million, with Ward having falsified official records and forged colleagues’ signatures to facilitate the unlawful payments, MOCA said.

She was convicted by Senior Parish Court Judge Chester Crooks and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 10, 2026.

In a separate matter, Garrick Lewis, a 25-year-old former Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier of Lower Mall Road, Kingston 11, was sentenced in the Supreme Court Gun Court Division on Friday, March 13, 2026 for breaches of the Firearms Act.

Lewis had been arrested after MOCA executed a search and seizure warrant at his residence in November 2024 in connection with an ongoing cybercrime investigation.

During the operation, law enforcement officers found fifteen 5.56 cartridges and five .38 cartridges on the premises. He was subsequently charged with unauthorised possession of ammunition and dealing in prohibited weapons.

On sentencing, Justice Mr Vaughn Smith imposed 15 years’ imprisonment for unauthorised possession of ammunition and 20 years’ imprisonment for dealing in prohibited weapons, with the sentences to run concurrently.

“These matters reflect the breadth of MOCA’s work across corruption, major financial crimes, firearms offences and wider organised criminal activity”, said Major Basil Jarrett, director of communications at MOCA. “But they also highlight the strength of the cases which we put before the courts, and the high conviction rate which we enjoy.”