Seven men arrested in Mandeville for their alleged involvement in the lottery scam were remanded when they appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The accused men are Everald Morgan, 30; Akeen Isaacs, 19; Demard Wooley, 21; Darrion Hall, 19; Damion Marshall, 23; Lamar Edwards, 20, and Jason Grant, 19.

Premises were searched

Allegations in the matter are that between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. on November 28, police carried out an operation in sections of Mandeville where two premises were searched. The team seized two motor vehicles, along with several items, including a laptop, a quantity of cash and Western Union and MoneyGram receipts.

The court also heard that travellers cheques with a combined value of $5 million were seized at the premises. The seven accused men were at a premises where the items were found and were arrested and charged with money laundering.

Checks with Western Union

The Crown indicated that it opposed bail for Marshall and Edwards because they were on a previous charges for the lottery scam and were on bail when they were arrested. They also said checks with Western Union found that sums of money were sent to Wooley and Isaacs.

However, Marshall's attorney made a bail application for her client, indicating that he had always adhered to the conditions of his bail from the previous offence and lived at the premises where he was arrested.

Found in the roof

Grant's attorney also made a bail application and told the court that he lived in Runaway Bay, St Ann, and was visiting the premises when the raid was conducted. His attorney claimed he had no idea what was happening there. He said the items found were not immediately visible to his client as they were found in the roof of the premises by the police.

Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown, who heard the matter, denied all the men bail, but noted that some of them could receive bail soon. He said he was giving the police another two weeks to bring their investigations to a certain stage. The matter is to be mentioned on December 19 while all the accused men were remanded and their fingerprints ordered taken.