Fake MOCA agents steal car, $1 million from scammer

Men posing as investigators attached to the Major Organised Crime Agency (MOCA), an elite team that is focussed on tackling corruption in the public sector and bringing high-value criminal targets to justice, pulled off $1-million robbery on an alleged lottery scammer in Negril, Westmoreland, this week.

The incident took place between the hours of 5 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Investigators said that the men reportedly informed the victim that he has been on the police radar for some time, and it has been discovered that he is a major player in the island's lottery scamming activities.

The MOCA impersonators then proceeded to carry out a search of the premises after which they informed the victim that they would be seizing his Toyota Axio motor car, a quantity of cash that is believed to be more than $1 million, cell phones and other electronic devices.

The impersonators reportedly informed the victim that he was being taken into custody. They proceeded to transport him to a section of Negril where he was released, but not before the men informed him that they would be returning on Wednesday.

Lottery scamming

"I believed that the victim was targeted based on the fact that he may be involved in the lottery scamming, and there was a threat by the men that they would be returning on Wednesday for $200,000 more from the victim," Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Adrian Hamilton from Westmoreland, told THE WEEKEND STAR.

He said that the men did not return to the victim's home as they had promised.

"The investigations are at a delicate stage at this time. We have made progress in regards to our probe in the matter, we are continuing to follow-up on very strong leads, and, hopefully, we are going to be able to make some arrest in short order," DSP Hamilton added.

The senior cop said that based on investigations thus far, the men who carried out the robbery are not associated with MOCA.