Three employees of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) were charged on Thursday for defrauding the entity of over $6 million. The offence was committed between August 13 and December 1 this year.

The three are Sheldon Henry, 21, accountant of Barbican Road; Winston Allen, 40, marketing representative of West Avenue, both in Kingston 8; and Kevin Britton, 27, of Chisolm Avenue, Kingston 13.

Henry was charged with eight counts of falsification of account and eight counts of larceny as a servant. Allen was charged with obtaining money by false pretence and five counts of uttering false documents while Britton was charged with obtaining money by means of forged documents, forgery and uttering forged documents.

Utility bills

Police reported that during August 13 to December 1 this year, Henry prepared cheques - amounting to $6.4 million - to pay utility bills for the EOJ.

The police said the signature of a signing officer was forged and the names on the cheques changed to those of Allen and Britton. The cheques were eventually and lodged into the men's accounts. The money was withdrawn from the bank at a later date.

The fraud was discovered and the matter reported to the Fraud Squad. Following investigations, the three were arrested on December 9. They are scheduled to appear in the Corporate Area resident Magistrate's Court in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, today.