A junior employee of Air Jamaica has allegedly taken off with more than $70 million of the floundering national carrier's funds.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Fraud Squad is part of a high-level team of local and international authorities investigating the fraudulent transfer.
Superintendent Fitz Bailey, head of the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID), told The Gleaner the money was transferred to an overseas account.
He sought to assure taxpayers, who have kept the struggling airline in the air, that the Fraud Squad was actively investigating the matter.
Superintendent Bailey also told our news team that the employee suspected of swindling the airline is off the island.
The senior officer was unable to say if the 24-year-old took an Air Jamaica flight to his overseas destination. However, he revealed that the investigating team believed the young man left the island last month before the fraud was discovered.
no warrant issued
While the suspect is being sought for questioning, the senior cop said a warrant had not been issued for his arrest.
The OCID boss was reluctant to divulge further details.
"We are doing our investigation so we can't go into detail as to the nature of the investigation," he said.
Bruce Nobles, president and chief executive officer of Air Jamaica, made the disclosure about the fraudulent transfer yesterday.
"A fraudulent transfer of some Air Jamaica funds is being investigated by the organisation's internal security and audit departments, as well as by the Jamaican Fraud Squad, Air Jamaica's external auditors and other appropriate domestic and international authorities," read the opening paragraph of a statement issued by Nobles.
The boss of the national carrier made it clear he would not be able to go into further details until the investigators put all the pieces together.
Nobles added that as soon as the fraud was discovered, the airline's management took immediate steps to prevent any further breaches and to notify appropriate authorities.
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com