(KINGSTOWN, ST VINCENT) – 36-year-old Je-anne Ellis a resident of New Montrose and a school teacher at the St. Martin Secondary School counted her lucky stars on Thursday 29th November after Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne did not impose a custodial sentence on her on three separate charges of theft.
The charges stem from monies missing from a Book Loan Scheme Program the property of the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines between October 3rd and 2016 and September 7th, 2018 being a total of approximately $28,000.00.
Ellis was escorted to the Serious Offences Court by detectives at the Major Crime Unit on Thursday 29th November before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne and pleaded guilty to the charges which were laid summary.
The Court heard that from the year 2013 Ellis was given the responsibility to administer over the Book Loan Scheme Program and was responsible to deposit funds collected to the Treasury.
The Deputy Principal of the school also had the responsibility of checking the records which he subsequently made checks and discovered there were some irregularities.
As a result, auditors were summoned to check the books and based on their findings the police were called in to do some investigations which led to the arrest of Ellis.
When asked by the Chief Magistrate what she had to say in mitigation Ellis said that she apologized for her action and asked the Court to be lenient with her in sentencing and stated that she used the monies to assist her with her medical and presented documentation to the Courts to prove such.
After perusing the documents, the Chief Magistrate indicated that Ellis appears to have serious medical conditions and she would make her decision relative to what Ellis said.
The magistrate ordered her to repay all the funds by the end of July 2019, failing which a 9 months jail term will be imposed.
