Five Former TAJ Employees Freed After Fraud Case Collapses in Court

A long-running fraud case involving five former employees of Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court dismissed the charges due to prolonged delays.

The women—Dermain Shakespeare, Kelly-Ann Wright, Sherine Leslie, Shanna-Kay Simmonds-Johnson, and Sherika Stewart—were all cleared after the judge ruled that the matter could not proceed for want of prosecution.

The legal ruling effectively ends a case that stretched over nine years and was marked by repeated delays, including dozens of adjournments and a stalled trial process. The term “want of prosecution” applies when proceedings are discontinued due to excessive delay or lack of progress.

All five women had been employed as cashiers at TAJ when they were arrested in January 2017 during a joint operation led by the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), with support from the Revenue Protection Division and the Financial Investigations Division. Authorities had alleged that millions of dollars were lost through a fraudulent scheme uncovered at TAJ’s Cross Roads office in St Andrew.

Following their arrest, the women were charged with multiple offences, including conspiracy to defraud, forgery, falsification of documents, and larceny as a servant.

Court records show the case was plagued by delays from its early stages, with more than a dozen adjournments occurring before a trial date was set in September 2019. However, the trial did not begin until October 2021, and progress remained slow. By February of last year, only one witness had testified, despite the passage of several years and roughly 30 additional adjournments.

On the latest court date, prosecutors representing MOCA under authority from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions were absent. Defence attorneys then moved for the case to be dismissed, citing the extensive delay. Although a court clerk requested another postponement, the presiding judge rejected the application, pointing to the significant impact the prolonged proceedings had on the accused and concluding that the prosecution was not prepared to continue.

Attorney Althea Freeman, who represented Wright, welcomed the outcome, stating that the decision reflected the need for fairness in the justice system.

With the matter now concluded, the women are reportedly considering legal action against the State, claiming breaches of their constitutional rights, including the right to a trial within a reasonable timeframe.

Legal representation in the case included Christopher Townsend and Chadwick Berry for Shakespeare; Obika Gordon for Leslie; Kymberli Whittaker for Simmonds-Johnson; and Orville Morgan for Stewart.

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