Antiguan media personality Janice Samuel lands in prison

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Janice Samuel, a former media personality who is facing a string of fraud charges has been remanded back to prison in Antigua.

On August 23, 2021, a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Janice Samuel after she failed to show up for a court hearing.

Her two sureties were summoned and they, along with her lawyer, Sherfield Bowen, stated that all efforts to contact Samuel were unsuccessful.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that she has a UK passport – although she previously said she didn’t hold any other citizenship.

When asked why she didn’t appear in court earlier this week, the former radio show contributor revealed “she didn’t have a phone and could not remember the date for the hearing”.

Because of this, her $200,000 bond with a $50,000 cash component to secure bail was revoked and she was sent back to prison.

In 2019, the 47-year-old woman was charged with 14 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses from the company, H2One Limited – where she worked as an office assistant between March 15 and July 7, 2019.

Samuel allegedly stole US$107,119.27 from said company. Her employer reportedly began looking into her actions and his accounts in July 2019 after news broke that she was convicted of embezzlement.

When he audited his accounts, he is said to have found that several cheques he had signed had been filled and paid out.

He reportedly told the police that he had never filled out any sums on those cheques, nor approved their payments, and his staff knew that his approval was required.

The accused is said to have prepared the cheques and issued them to an associate of hers who was not affiliated with the company.

They were allegedly cashed at a gas station by the individual, but when questioned he said he did not know he was involved in a crime.

Samuel is due to appear in court again next month.

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