Accountant facing larceny charges

An accountant alleged to be the mastermind behind an elaborate scheme to defraud a company of more than $10 million was yesterday offered $2-million bail in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

Charged with nine counts of larceny as a servant is Camille Burgher. She has not yet entered a plea. It was shared by the complainant that Burgher was employed as an accountant, and bypassed security procedures and transferred more than $7 million from the company's accounts to her personal accounts, categorising them as staff loans. It is further alleged that between April 2023 and May 2024, Burgher added another person, who is not employed to the company, to the payroll, transferring a salary of $800,000 and paying salary deductions of $86,000 to Tax Administration Jamaica.

"We have been tax compliant up until October of last year, and it is something that I have taken pride in. Ms Burgher knows this and we had to take a loan of over $10 million because of this," the complainant related to Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell.

The judge was not initially minded to offer Burgher bail, but made the decision following submissions by attorney-at-law Francis, who represents Burgher. Francis pleaded that her client be admitted to bail as she needed to take further instructions. Bail was offered with at least four sureties. As a condition of her bail, Burgher is to surrender her travel documents and report to the police three times weekly. The judge also imposed a condition that Burgher is to inform the inspector or the sub-officer in charge of the station she reports to of her intention to leave the parish in which she resides.

"So if you coming to town to meet with the lawyer, you have to tell the police. If you going to Portland, you have to tell the police. It is a provision under the new Bail Act and I am making use of it every opportunity I get," the senior jurist said.

A stop order was also imposed.

"The bail amount should be higher, but I want you to be able to take up the bail," the judge added.

The matter was adjourned until October 1 for mention, and for the investigating officer to complete the file. - T.T.