Kamera Kathleen Belisle, a 32-year-old security guard at the Philip Goldson International Airport in Belize, has been charged with dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit after nearly $50,000 in government lottery money was accidentally deposited into her bank account.
The error was made by Prem Balani, a 25-year-old accountant at Nando's Wholesale, the sales agent for the Belize Government Lotteries.
According to police reports, Balani had intended to transfer $47,935.45 to the account of Bi Yun Chen at Lowe's Supermarket, a sub-agent for the lottery. However, he made a mistake with the bank account number, resulting in the funds being deposited into Belisle's account on March 8th. Belisle did not report the transaction or return the money, leading to her arrest on April 12th after an investigation by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Belisle was arraigned in court on June 24th, where no plea was taken as the prosecutor indicated the matter would be dealt with on indictment at the high court. She was offered bail of $6,000 plus two sureties of $3,000 each. As part of her bail conditions, Belisle is prohibited from applying for a new passport or leaving the country without the court's permission, and she must report to the police station every Friday.
Why this matters: This case highlights the importance of financial institutions and individuals promptly reporting and rectifying errors in electronic fund transfers. It also raises questions about the security measures in place to prevent such mistakes and the legal consequences for those who fail to return wrongfully credited funds.
Balani, the accountant responsible for the error, reported the mistake to the police, who then contacted the FIU to locate the account holder. "The police worked with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to identify Belisle as the account holder and arrested her on April 12th," according to a police spokesperson. Belisle's case will be tried on indictment at the High Court following a preliminary inquiry, with her next court date set for June 24.
Key Takeaways
- Kamera Belisle, a security guard, charged with retaining $50K lottery money mistakenly deposited.
- Accountant Prem Balani made error transferring funds to wrong account, leading to Belisle's arrest.
- Belisle arraigned in court, case to be dealt with at high court, granted bail with conditions.
- Case highlights importance of promptly reporting and rectifying electronic fund transfer errors.
- Accountant reported mistake, police and FIU located Belisle as account holder and arrested her.