The number of charges against the Penniston man accused of taking money from persons across St. Vincent and the Grenadines and promising to secure jobs for them in the cruise industry, has risen to 40.
The accused man, 31-year-old Tedroy McCree, was again denied bail when he appeared at the Serious Offences Court on Tuesday for his third bail review.
The crown told the court that detectives are still investigating reports by members of the public that they paid monies to McCree after he said that he could secure jobs for them on cruise ships.
Prosecutors argued that McCree could hinder the investigation if he is released.
On Monday, McCree was slapped with 13 additional deception charges.
The crown is alleging that between January 31 and Aug. 1 this year he dishonestly obtained monies, ranging from US$50 to EC$950 from a number of persons from across the country.
Based on the charges read to him on Monday, McCree also allegedly obtained dishonestly sums of EC$175, EC$500, EC$400, EC$300, EC$530, EC$650, EC$850, and EC$455 from the persons he reportedly deceived.
Some of the persons he allegedly deceived are Andre John of Richland Park, Roseclaire Spencer of Redemption Sharpes, Isaiah Williams of Bequia, Mariah King of Diamonds, Alika King of Diamonds, Bertram Ambris of Layou, and Jassyll Alexander of Old Montrose.
McCree was not required to plead to the indictable charges and was remanded to prison pending another bail review next week.
Lawyer Israel Bruce is representing the accused man, while Corporal Biorn Duncan of the Major Crime Unit is the lead investigator.
iWitness News understands that McCree would face as many as 60 charges by the time the investigation is complete.
Again, just shows how desperate our people are for the low wage, long hours, low security jobs in the cruise ship industry where most positions are filled by Third World people of colour.
More than all the statistics in the world the Prime Minister could cite about the performance of our economy , this case — plus the long line ups for jobs at Kentucky that in the United States and Canada are often filled by temporary overseas workers from poor countries because locals shun the low wages and poor working conditions — alone show how badly off things really are for most people.