WESTERN BUREAU:

A music producer, who tried to obtain a passport using a fraudulent driver's licence felt a major pinch in his pocket after he was fined, $250,000 for the foiled attempt.

The accused, 31-year-old Okley Malcolm of Granville in St James, pleaded guilty to uttering a forged document when he appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court.

The facts are that on March 20, he went to the passport office in Montego Bay and presented a driver's licence, a birth certificate and an application for a passport to an immigration officer. Checks revealed that the driver's licence was fraudulent.

He subsequently told the officer that he paid a man at the depot $15,000 and then met with someone at the Inland Revenue Department to get the licence.

Malcolm told the court that he had no idea that the document was fraudulent and that he lived in the United States for five years but chose to return to Jamaica because of music.

When asked which artistes he produced, he responded: "a lot of artiste".

The court was subsequently filled with laughter after RM Winsome Henry told the accused, "well that means you have a lot of money", before slapping him with the hefty fine.

If the fine is not paid, he will spend six months in prison. - T.M.