Bail application for fifth HEART/NSTA Trust fraud suspect postponed until June 27

The bail application for the fifth person implicated in a major fraud at the HEART/NSTA Trust has been postponed until June 27, allowing the judge presiding over the matter against his four co-accused to decide whether to approve his bail or not.

The Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court was informed that the case against 36-year-old Ricardo Golden was scheduled for a bail application on Tuesday. However, presiding judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montaque told his defense attorney that, considering the circumstances of the matter and that another judge is handling the case against his co-accused, she will leave the decision of bail to that judge.

The allegations state that sometime in 2018, a financial audit was conducted at the HEART/NSTA Trust, and when anomalies were discovered, a report was made to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA). It was found that the institution was defrauded of over $8 million.

Golden was arrested when he attempted to board a flight at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston after assuring a police officer, who made contact over the phone and urged him to turn himself in, that he would do so.

The other individuals charged in the case, Anna-Kay Phinn-Tyrell and her husband Michael Tyrell, former employees at the HEART/NSTA, as well as Tasha Bucknor and Shamar Bell, are currently before the courts.

READ: MOCA arrests $8 million fraud suspect at NMIA

Before Judge Cole-Montaque made the decision not to provide a ruling on the bail application, she was informed that the Crown opposed bail, as the investigating officer stated that Golden is considered a flight risk since he had already attempted to flee the country.

However, Golden’s defense counsel countered, stating that his client’s passport and United States Green Card were confiscated by a police officer upon his arrest. Therefore, the lawyer argued that he should not be considered a flight risk.

Golden’s lawyer also informed the judge that Golden’s mistake was that he “loaned the co-accused a bank card.” The attorney explained that one of the co-accused is a close friend who told him he had money coming from the US but “his Western Union was not working.”

“Did he give his friend’s name to the police?” the judge asked.

“I wasn’t asked that,” the accused answered.

“It just seems weird that that information wasn’t volunteered,” Cole-Montaque countered.

The lawyer then chimed in, saying, “I am asking you to take that chance with him.”

“Why should I take that chance?” Cole-Montaque questioned.

“Because everyone deserves a chance,” the lawyer responded, adding that trusting a friend is what led his client down this path.

“So, that is why the court needs to send messages to people to let them know that they can’t be so trusting…There is another thing such as willful blindness,” the judge said.

Golden was ultimately remanded until June 27 when he is scheduled to appear before the other judge.