Jamaica News Today May 29, 2026 | Labour Ministry Takes Action on Missing Funds

[00:00:11]Good afternoon my real news media TV family. Welcome back to the channel for another news update for Friday, May 29, 2026.

[00:00:21]And in the news this afternoon, American sentenced to over 10 years for selling elderly data to Jamaican scammers.

[00:00:31]A North Carolina man has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison after being convicted of running a 7-year scheme in which he victimized millions of elderly Americans by selling their personal information to Jamaican lottery fraud scammers. Assistant Attorney General A.

[00:00:50]Tyson Duva of the Justice Department criminal division said the Troy Murray 57 will also serve 3 years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit US 5,214,68848.

[00:01:09]In January this year, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a wire fraud. According to quarter documents, Murray orchestrated a scheme in which he organized, maintained, and sold a list containing the names, phone numbers, physical addresses, and in some cases, ages, and email addresses of elderly Americans to individuals in Jamaica involved in lottery fraud operations. Between 2016 and 2023, he sold this list to Jamaican scammers who used the information to target elderly victims in lottery fraud schemes, earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

[00:01:54]Prosecutors described Murray as a prolific and well-known lead list broker for Jamaican fraudsters. Scammers would typically contact him via call, email, or text requesting list of names. He would then set a price per list, usually around US $500 for 100 to 300 names.

[00:02:15]Initially, Marie instructed scammers to provide a payment via wire transfer. But after multiple money transfer services blocked his transactions, he instructed scammers to instead pay using prepaid gift cards. His operation became so widely known in Jamaica that his alias Steve Dixon was reportedly referenced in the lyrics of a 2022 song by a Jamaican artist. After receiving payments, Mory used the proceeds to purchase farm equipment, vehicles, and collectible items such as bars and coins made of precious metals. He also transferred portions of the funds to one of his sons for personal expenses and the business use. During the scheme, Maurice sent at least 22,000 lead list containing the personal information of more than 7 million elderly Americans of more than 7 million elderly Americans to scammers generating over US 5.2 million in profits. Victim losses were estimated to exceed US $9.5 million.

[00:03:28]Labor Ministry seeks to claw back $500 million in unspent solidarity funds.

[00:03:36]The Ministry of Labor and Social Security says it has written to the Ministry of Finance requesting the return of approximately $533 million in unspent solidarity program funds after the money was reverted to the consolidated fund at the end of the financial year. The disclosure came Thursday in a press release as the ministry sought to clarify figures and defended the administration of the government $1 billion solidarity program following intense criticism during Wednesday sitting of parliament's public administration and appropriations committee. At the center of the controversy was a revelation that only $230.4 $4 million, approximately 23% had been dispersed under the program nearly a year after it was launched to assist the vulnerable Jamaicans. During the meeting, legislators repeatedly referenced roughly $770 million in unspent funds with several members questioning how such a large sum could remain unused while struggling Jamaicans continue appealing for assistance.

[00:04:49]Acting permanent secretary in the ministry, Dion Jennings also indicated during the sitting that the unspent balance had been returned at the end of the financial year in keeping with the fiscal rules governing public expenditure. However, in its release, the ministry said of the original approximately $1 billion allocation, $230.4 million was it dispersed directly to beneficiaries under the program. while another $236.2 million was allocated to the rehabilitation and the social pension fund and used to provide grants and assistance to vulnerable persons. That left approximately $533 million which the ministry explained had to be returned to the consolidated fund because the financial year expired before it could be spent. The figures mean that while lawmakers broadly referred to roughly $770 million remaining unused during Wednesday's PAC meeting, the ministry is now distinguishing between the portion redirected to other welfare related assistant programs and the portion formally returned to the consolidated fund. The solidarity program was introduced in June 2025 as a special social intervention aimed at assisting elderly persons, lowincome formal workers, persons with disabilities, medically vulnerable individuals, and unemployed young adults between 18 and 35 who were not enrolled in school or training programs.

[00:06:32]According to figures presented to the PAC, the program received more than 18,000 applications and 11,521 people ultimately approved for payment.

[00:06:44]The ministry also noted that none all approved beneficiaries had yet to collected their payments and pointed out that the payment period has been extended until June 30, 2026 to facilitate outstanding collections.

[00:07:01]The ministry maintained that it remains focused on completing outstanding reconciliation and the payment activities while continuing to support a vulnerable Jamaicans through its wider network of social programs.

[00:07:18]Red Crosser delivers a $21 million hurricane relief to Trilani families.

[00:07:25]The Trillani branch of the International Red Cross has coordinated the distribution of $21 million in hurricane Melissa relief assistance to 300 families in northern Trilani.

[00:07:37]Representatives from the international body along with volunteers from our branch carried out assessments in district in northern Trilani of families affected by the hurricane said the branch director Aneta Carvalo in a recent news interview. They later returned and donated the $21 million she said. She disclosed that assessments are now underway in southern Chilani. As soon as that is complete, then our international body will be ready for another donation, she added. The Trrellani branch, which is marking its 20th year, has 80 registered volunteers.

[00:08:21]JFJ Promises continued advocacy for NAR transparency.

[00:08:28]Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice, Mikuel Jackson, says the civil society will continue its advocacy for transparency in the execution of projects by the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority following the announcement that the legislation is now in effect. Miss Jackson says the NAR's engagement with the public will also be closely monitored. JFJ was one of several civil society groups which raised a concern about the NAR legislation including a highly centralized CEO-driven structure with insufficient independent oversight, weaker provisions for transparency, accountability, and the public participation. Speaking Wednesday with the news, Miss Jackson said the groups will be pushing for written guidelines on the issues that they had called for to be included in the act.

[00:09:24]>> For example, who you engage when and how that process of participatory governance and consultation is something we hope will be spelled out. We note that one of the recommendation that we had that the auditor general would be on the audit committee and and and we have taken note that the government had indicated which we are correct that real time audit is possible. However, we had asked for the government to make a policy commitment that the auditor general will get increased resources because it makes no sense that we feel that the auditor general can do real time audit when the resources aren't there to get it done.

[00:10:06]And I think that clear policy directives are just one of the many things that we need to continue up on. This was the concern that we had that sometimes it's not actually what perhaps um happened but it's the perception that the public may have and perception is quite important and we have to manage that with processes. So again the issue for us is not the individual but the what was articulated in the legislation was a concern and we are happy having taken note of a tweet I I saw by Minister Morgan that um um Mr. Anthony Anderson has experience in engineering for example. But the question is which was not in the app. What were the the skill set and the criteria even abstractly written for us to even have confidence that some process was really followed not withstanding the public commitments that have been made by the prime minister so far. I also want to urge caution to the prime minister with the greatest of respect to him that when utterances are made from the leadership, it sends a signal to those who are his subordinates and those who are political supporters that civil society and others who call for accountability are not to be trusted. Civil society and others who call for accountability somehow have a sinister motive. to the society and others who call for accountability. They are doing this for funding. Those are dangerous comments to be made by the head of a government. And if I look to my government who say that they're serious about accountability, serious about participation, those words should have never left mouth of the prime minister. So it is really disappointing and I would hope that the prime minister in his wisdom would reflect on his comments and withdraw them appropriately.

[00:12:04]Guys, thank you for watching. See you this evening at 6 p.m. for another news update.

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