Woman drops case after independent candidate pays back $100,000
PORTMORE auto dealer and independent candidate for the Braeton Division in St Catherine, Alton Duhaney had his fraudulent conversion case dismissed last Friday when he appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court.
The court made a no-order ruling after the complainant said she no longer wished to continue with the case as Duhaney had repaid her the $100,000 she had given him towards the purchase of a Suzuki Baleno motor car.
The allegations were that the woman gave Duhaney the money on April 15, 2003; however, he failed to supply the car, return the funds or make contact with her up to a month later. He was arrested and charged on June 16.
Senior Resident Magistrate Lorna Gayle, in dismissing the case against Duhaney, cautioned him to be more careful when carrying out his business affairs.
Duhaney, who ran unsuccessfully in Portmore’s first mayoral elections three days after his arrest, had previously maintained that he was innocent of the charge and declared that someone was trying to set him up, apparently to weaken his chances of success in the election. Like other independent candidates, he failed to get enough votes to secure his deposit.
He made news again when a warrant was issued for his immediate arrest, after he failed to appear to face fraud charges in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate’s Court. Duhaney said he had thought the date of his appearance was July 2 and not July 1 and apologised to the court. He also promised to make restitution of the complainant’s money. On that occasion, he was granted bail in the sum of $80,000.
Undaunted by his June 19 mayoral defeat, Duhaney will face the People’s National Party’s Owen Saunderson and the Jamaica Labour Party’s Vivien Reeves on July 17 in a battle for the Braeton Division, where the local government election was postponed after the death of the JLP’s original candidate, Winsome “Mumma Labour” Kidd.