Wright gets 10 years at hard labour for INSPORTS fraud

Former INSPORTS financial controller and party promoter Andrew Wright was on Friday sentenced to 10 years and seven months at hard labour for his role in the multimillion-dollar fraud scheme at the state-run agency.

Wright, known for staging events such as Chug It and French Connection, was convicted of engaging in transactions that involve criminal property and facilitating the retention of criminal property. He was ordered to serve 10 years and seven months at hard labour on each count by Justice Ann Marie Lawrence Grainger during his sentencing in the Home Circuit Court.

He was also sentenced to one year and four months at hard labour on 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and two years and 10 months at hard labour for an act of corruption.

The judge, however, ruled that the sentences are to run concurrently. Hence, Wright will only be serving the 10 years and seven months.

Co-accused Rudolph Barnes was sentenced to 12 months each on two counts of conspiracy to defraud and three years for an act of corruption. The sentences are also to run concurrently.

Meanwhile, Oneil Hope was sentenced to 11 months each on six conspiracy charges, and five years and nine months for the acquisition of criminal property.

The now-convicts were found guilty of the charges in the latter part of September, following a near year-long trial into the $226-million fraud at INSPORTS and were remanded for sentencing.

The case centred on allegations that the trio, along with other current and former INSPORTS employees, orchestrated the creation and encashment of fraudulent cheques issued to individuals who had no employment or contractual ties to the agency. The scheme was uncovered during a 2017 internal audit, which prompted a referral to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).

Following an extensive investigation, arrests were made, including Wright’s in April 2023 while he appeared before the Industrial Disputes Tribunal in an unrelated wrongful dismissal matter.

Three female co-defendants –Andrea Picton, Sherene Farquharson, and Jonnique Mill – were acquitted of all charges, including conspiracy and corruption. Picton and Farquharson had both served as accounting clerks at INSPORTS, while Mills had also faced several charges before being cleared.

The prosecution team was led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Alexia McDonald and Crown Counsel Dwayne Houston.

Following the ruling, Wright’s attorney, Alessandra LaBeach, who represented him alongside Isat Buchanan, described the outcome as “very disappointing and shocking”, noting that her client plans to appeal.

“Despite having a very favourable probation report, the court was of the opinion that a custodial sentence was appropriate,” she said.

Attorney Steven Jackson, who represented Barnes, also reacted to the decision.

“I am not quite happy, but at the end of the day, it is what it is, and the court has made its decision, and we are going to work with it until I take further instruction from my client as to the next step forward.”

Attorney Seymour Stewart, who represents Hope, had previously indicated that his client was dissatisfied with the conviction and intended to appeal.