A senior bank employee and a former Social Development Ministry Inspector are among five persons charged in a retirement home fraud conspiracy.

All the accused are jointly charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government of sums totaling $900,000.

Specifically, 42-year-old Gashyia Siwaju, a former Inspector II with the Ministry, was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government, 32 counts of Fraudulently Causing the Making of a Valuable Security, and 20 Counts of Money Laundering by Receiving (kickbacks).

Meanwhile, 34-year-old Kelon Williams, an Operations Manager with a commercial bank, was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government.

Today, both Siwaju and Williams were granted bail in the sums of $500,000 and $300,000 respectively, by a Justice of the Peace.

The three other accused are:

• A 71-year-old domestic worker charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government, 42 counts of Money Laundering by Disposing, and two counts of Money Laundering by Receiving.
• A 43-year-old messenger employed in the Office of the Prime Minister who is charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government, 42 counts of Money Laundering by Disposing, and two counts of Money Laundering by Receiving
• A 43-year-old  handyman employed with the HDC  charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the Government, and 22 counts of money laundering by receiving.

The charges arise from a report made to the Fraud Squad in January 2020, of discrepancies in payments to a particular retirement home between September 2015 and January 2020.

The TTPS says investigations revealed that sometime around September 2015, an Inspector II at the Ministry, who was responsible for approving payments to contracted retirement homes, allegedly conspired with her aunt and cousin, to register a retirement home business as a legitimate entity.

The Ministry employee also allegedly enlisted the help of her boyfriend, an operations manager at a local commercial bank, to open a business bank account.

However, the TTPS says the retirement home had no physical presence or operations and only existed on paper.

Between September 2015 and January 2020, the Ministry employee allegedly created false invoices which purported that the retirement home was entitled to payments.

32 payments totalling $900,000 in State cheques were said to have been paid out.

The fraudulently obtained Government cheques were allegedly passed to the bank employee who ensured they were quietly deposited to the account at his branch.

He then allegedly conspired with another person, who over time, withdrew cash by way of cheques made out to him.

The TTPS says the bulk of the cash proceeds were then distributed between the Ministry employee and the bank employee.

All five accused will appear before a Port of Spain Magistrate tomorrow.