By Francine Black, Staff Reporter
A MAN SUSPECTED of being a conman who had swindled several job applicants out of thousands of dollars, has been caught by the Cross Roads Police.
The suspect, whose correct name is Horace Haughton but whom police say operated under the name Horacio Valesquez, was held on Saturday at the Portmore Mall, St. Catherine.
Investigating officers, Detectives Sergeant Quincy Sterling and Detective Constable Michael Bailey, arrested Haughton after they were summoned to the mall by an applicant who was swindled in the con scheme.
The conman had not only duped job applicants out of their money but also tricked a number of businesses across the Corporate Area.
Detective Sergeant Sterling told THE STAR that the conman's plan started while he was in prison where he was serving a sentence for the same offence. It is reported that while in prison, Haughton met a young woman through a telephone dating service and got to know her and her father. He allegedly told the two that he was calling from the Cayman Islands and the day before he was to be released from prison, he told the woman's father to place an advertisement in the paper for jobs at his company. He claimed he was about to come to Jamaica to transact some business.
On October 5, Haughton was released from prison and by the end of the week he had ordered several pieces of office furniture and computers, and had rented office space for his business which was called International Financial Services Limited.
By the following Monday, Haughton had started to conduct interviews for staff. Haughton told the prospective employees to pay $3,000 for uniforms and collected most of this sum from most of the applicants who went for the job.
However, later that week the Ministry of Labour went to Haughton's offices that were in a rented space on Slipe Road in Cross Roads.
Haughton escaped moments before the police went to the location, sparking a search for him.
FURNITURE RECOVERED
Detective Sergeant Sterling said the amount of office furniture and computers Haughton bought fraudulently was more than $300,000. These were later recovered at Haughton's business offices in Cross Roads.
The police, who are still collecting statements, said Haughton has been charged with forgery, uttering forged documents, obtaining goods by fraud and obtaining money by false pretence.
Sterling adds that the conman has done the same scam several times in other parts of the island. Haughton also had addresses in Montego Bay, St. Catherine and St. Elizabeth.
Haughton is to appear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. The Cross Roads Police are appealing to any person who may have been tricked by the conman to contact them at 926-6657.
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