Deported businessman freed of fraud charges

Elvis Jones, the Jamaican businessman who was arrested on fraud-related charges after his deportation from Panama last week, has been acquitted.

Jones, 52, of Portmore, St Catherine, was facing two counts of fraudulent conversion for allegedly failing to import and deliver two motor vehicles for which he collected $1.2 million and US$5,535.

He was also charged with non-delivery of goods and failure to issue receipts.

The monies were paid to him by a man and a woman in March and August 2022.

Jones was arrested on an INTERPOL Red Notice for wanted persons.

However, the charges against Jones were dismissed in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday, after he made restitution to both complainants and prosecutors offered no evidence against him.

His attorney Donnovan Collins acknowledged in court that monies were exchanged between his clients and the complainants, but denied that the cash was converted for the businessman's personal use.

Collins also denied allegations that Jones intended to defraud the complainants.

- Livern Barrett

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