Spending spree ends in Carapichaima man's arrest

A SYSTEM error which led to a financial institution crediting $32,347,308.55 to a client's account triggered a series of events, including a wild spending spree, a report to the Fraud Squad and a Carapichaima man being arrested and charged with larceny.

A police press release said an exercise by Fraud Squad officers resulted in the arrest of the 31-year-old man.

The scaffolder, identified in the press release as Joel Julien, was charged on Thursday with one count of larceny of $956,857.70 by acting Cpl Cummings of the Fraud Squad. He was expected to appear before a Port of Spain magistrate on Friday.

The release said during a reconciliation exercise done by a financial institution, it was discovered that a system error resulted in $32,347,308.55 being mistakenly credited to a personal account there.

It is alleged that from November 18-December 1, the owner of that personal account withdrew $825,000 in cash from various ABMs (automated banking machines) across the country and also made point-of-sale purchases totalling $131,357.70 – a grand total of $956,857.70.

When the financial institution's efforts to get a full refund failed, a report was made to the Fraud Squad.

After investigations, Fraud Squad officers, under the supervision of Snr Supt Arlet Groome, carried out an exercise which resulted in the man's arrest . Police said $600,501 in cash was found at hiss home.

In unrelated crime incidents, police found a vehicle stolen in Couva in February on Thursday in San Juan during an anti-crime operation which also saw several people arrested for larceny and possession of drugs and ammunition.

A police press release said North Eastern Division Task Force officers carried out an exercise between 10.30 am and 1 pm. After receiving information on the white Nissan AD wagon stolen in Couva, they went to San Juan, where they found the vehicle and arrested a 40-year-old man from California.

And in the Northern Division, officers of the Pinto Police Post, the Canine Branch and the Municipal Police Task Force, between 4 am and 9 am, executed several search warrants in Pinto and Arima which led to four rounds of ammunition being seized and a 26-year-old man of Pinto being arrested.

The officers also found some marijuana during the Pinto/Arima exercises but no arrests were made.