Guyanese woman, boyfriend may be tried for credit/debit card fraud

A Guyanese woman and her boyfriend, whose nationality is yet to be determined, may have to stand trial in the Antigua High Court for allegedly running a scam that saw thousands of dollars taken from the accounts of credit and debit card holders.

According to the Antigua Sun, Shaka Edwin Yearwood, 33, and Rosaline Jane Conway, 22, have been charged with stealing some EC$407,960.

The two allegedly used credit and debit cards to access a number of bank accounts through Automated Teller Machines (ATM) withdrawing large sums of money. When they were arrested they allegedly had EC$15,000 in their possession and several bank debit and credit cards.

According to the report the two made use of a sophisticated device that was able to make copies of the bank cards soon after they were used at the ATM.

The Antigua and Barbuda Bankers Association (ABBA) had earlier this year alerted the public to an investigation that was launched by local banks.

While Conway is out on bail, her boyfriend is in jail because authorities are unable to verify his nationality. He is said to be the holder of two passports; one from the United Kingdom (UK) and the other from Trinidad. And while the information in the Trinidadian passport said he is from that country, the one from the UK says he is “from Lindon”, which the newspapers said is not in England “but a village in Guyana”. In fact, there is no Lindon in Guyana, but Linden, the mining town.

The committal proceedings are set for June 15.