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GOVERNMENT minister and Portland Western Member of Parliament (MP) Daryl Vaz yesterday lashed out at individuals who have been fraudulently using his name to scam unsuspecting people in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme which involved the sale of motor vehicles at the wharf.
Vaz said people have been using his name as part of a scam since 2013, fleecing millions of dollars from unsuspecting car buyers.
The scheme collapsed following a sting operation by the police on June 14, during which one man was arrested.
"Once again, unscrupulous persons are using my good name to extort and scam people in relation to all sorts of methods in relation to the sale of vehicles and all different sorts of things. I want to make it abundantly clear that since 2007, when I was first elected as a Member of Parliament and named a minister of Government, I ceased doing business in the motor vehicle [trade]," Vaz said in a video he released on social media yesterday.
"I'm neither a director, shareholder or affiliated with any motor vehicle company in Jamaica. And, therefore, if anybody comes to you using my name then you automatically know that it is not true," the MP said.
A notice obtained by the Jamaica Observer, which was issued by Vaz on March 21, 2013, said: "It has come to my attention that individuals in the public passenger transportation sector have been falsely identifying themselves as being employed by me. I hereby clearly state that I neither own, operate [nor] have any interest or involvement in the public passenger transportation sector. ..Kindly be so advised and report any such claims to the relevant authorities."
In the meantime, detectives assigned to the Kingston Western Proactive Investigation Unit have arrested and charged 35-year-old Shawn Latham, who has been identified as the main suspect in the fraud ring.
Latham, of Kingston 19, has been charged with obtaining money by false pretence and fraudulent conversion. He is also being investigated by the Fraud Squad for several other cases of a similar nature.
According to the constabulary's Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), between Wednesday, June 9 and Monday, June 14, the suspect used the image and name of Vaz to bait people to purchase motor vehicles through an alleged car auction.
"Through phone calls and instant messaging, Latham told the complainants that he was Daryl Vaz and he had connections with upcoming motor vehicle auctions. The complainants subsequently paid out more than $4 million to the accused man for two motor vehicles. After the money was paid over, the complainants suspected some ambiguities and reported the matter to the police. A sting operation was arranged by the police on June 14, where the accused man was arrested," the CCU said in a release yesterday.
The police, who made it clear that Latham is in no way connected to Vaz and did not have authority to conduct business on his behalf, urged members of the public to be wary of individuals using the names of known organisations and individuals to preying on unsuspecting people.