Duo steals $389,000 from BoSVG

The two people accused of stealing EC$389,155.95 from the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (BoSVG) in 2020 threw in their hands last week and pleaded guilty after the Serious Offences Court ruled against no-case submission by their lawyers.

Yvonne Patterson, a former clerk at BoSVG, and Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas, a mechanic are slated to be sentenced at the Serious Offences Court on Sept. 11.

Chief Magistrate Colin John allowed their bail to continue until then.

The two accused had each denied the charges against them, which were first laid in 2020 and maintained that stance when the court ruled last year that a new trial could proceed.

Their first trial was abandoned in 2024 — with just one prosecution witness left to testify — after Bertie Pompey, who was presiding, left the magistracy.

Patterson’s lawyer, Grant Connell and Douglas’ counsel, Maxron Holder, had argued in September 2024 that the proceedings be stayed indefinitely as an abuse of process.

However, John ruled against the lawyers and set aside two days for the trial, which got underway sometime later after even more delays.

When Cato closed his case earlier this month, Connell and Holder made no case submission, saying that the prosecution had failed to make out a case against their clients.

However, John ruled against the defendant, putting them on their defence.

The lawyers then asked for time to determine how they would proceed.

When the case was called on July 24, Holder told the court that there were some issues that he needed to figure out and asked for the matter to be adjourned until September.

However, Connell informed the court that he had new instructions, in light of which he and his client “do not intend to have the machinery of the court grind anymore.

“I don’t know how long my friend (Holder) wants, but if it is that the issues with this defendant can be addressed today, I am in a position to do so,” Connell said, referring to his client.

John then asked Holder if he was still asking for the September adjournment, and the lawyer asked the court to stand the matter down.

“I will try my best to see what I can do in the next hour or so,” he said, and the court offered a 90-minute adjournment.

When the matter was called way beyond the 90 minutes, both Connell and Holder asked that the charges be put to their clients again.

Patterson pleaded guilty to charges that:

• on June 18, 2020, at Kingstown, she stole EC$53,571.95, the property of BoSVG;
• on July 23, 2020, at Kingstown, she stole EC$335,584, the property of BoSVG;
• on June 18, 2020, at Kingstown, she dishonesty with a view to cause loss to BoSVG in sum of  EC$53,571.99, falsified the record of deposit to the account of Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas in the sum of EC$53,571.99, said record required for accounting purposes;
• on June 23, 2020, at Kingstown, she dishonestly with a view to causing loss to BoSVG in the sum of EC$335,584, falsified the record of deposit to the account of Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas in the sum of EC$335,584, said record required for accounting purposes.
• between June 1 and July 24, 2020, at Kingstown, she entered into or became concerned in an arrangement which she knew or suspected, facilitates by whatever means, the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person to wit the sum of EC$389,155.95 deposited into BoSVG account number 148014 in the name of Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas, which they knew or suspected, in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents that proceeds of criminal conduct; and,
• between June 1 and July 24, 2020, she disguised criminal property, to wit the sum of EC$389,155.95, deposited into account number 148014 in the name of Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas, which they knew or suspected, in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents that proceeds of criminal conduct.

Douglas pleaded guilty to charges that:

• on July 23, 2020, at Kingstown, he stole EC$335,584, the property of the BoSVG;
• between June 1 and July 24, 2020, at Kingstown, he entered into or became concerned in an arrangement which she knew or suspected, facilitates by whatever means, the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person to wit the sum of EC$389,155.95 deposited into BoSVG account number 148014 in the name of Fitzroy Jr. Izarus Marcus Douglas, which they knew or suspected, in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents that proceeds of criminal conduct.
• between July 5 and July 26, 2020, at Kingstown, he had in his possession criminal property to wit a silver Toyota Sprinter, PS996, which he knew or suspected in whole or in part directly or indirectly represented the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Cato accepted the guilty pleas but asked for an adjournment for sentencing.

He noted that a vehicle was mentioned in one of the charges, adding that the prosecution needed time to understand better how to proceed.

Connell said he had “no objection at all” to an adjournment, but asked that his client’s bail continue until sentencing.

He said that he had indicated that his instructions include “certain issues that I may have to ask the court to hear in camera for reasons touching and involving national security”.

He said he, therefore, had no objection to the adjournment and asked the court to grant bail in the interim.

Holder said that his submissions were the same as Connell’s.