Ex-Sagicor employees accused of creating ghost accounts to embezzle $65m
Published:Tuesday | July 15, 2025 | 12:09 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A former Sagicor Bank branch manager and two of her former colleagues are accused of orchestrating a sophisticated internal fraud scheme that allegedly siphoned approximately $65 million from the financial institution through the creation of seven ghost accounts.
The bank manager’s sister, Alysia Moulton White, former vice-president at Sagicor Life, is also alleged to have personally benefited from the illicit proceeds to the amount of $661,000.
The prosecution outlined its case yesterday during opening statements at the start of the Sagicor fraud trial in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, where Parish Judge Maxine Ellis is presiding.
Moulton White; her sister Tricia Moulton (then branch manager of the Liguanea and Manor Park branches); Malika McLeod, a personal banking officer; and Tishan Samuels, a client care officer, are all charged on a 22-count indictment. They face charges under the Larceny Act for obtaining money by false pretences and credit by fraud, under the Proceeds of Crime Act for engaging in and acquiring criminal property, and under common law for conspiracy to defraud.
Prosecutors Terrence Williams and Ann-Marie Feurtado-Richards, appearing on a fiat from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, allege that Moulton, McLeod, and Samuels used their positions at Sagicor Bank to open seven fraudulent, or ‘ghost’ accounts, between August and October 2022. Six of the accounts were created in the names of unsuspecting legitimate customers and one in the name of a non-customer. Investigators found no valid documentation for these accounts, and none of the named individuals were aware that their information had been used.
The accounts were reportedly funded with unsecured, short-term loans using temporary accommodation requests (TARs), a 30-day credit facility, and through internal transfers among the accounts. Millions of dollars were allegedly withdrawn, transferred, or used to pay third parties, including a gas company where Tricia Moulton served as company secretary.
The funds were also allegedly diverted from six genuine accounts belonging to a customer and her deceased husband.
Although Moulton White was not directly involved in the creation of the ghost accounts, prosecutors claim she benefited from a questionable foreign exchange transaction involving the real customer’s account. On August 31, 2022, the customer requested the conversion of US$16,000, which should have resulted in a payment of J$2.35 million. However, she received only J$1.23 million, resulting in a J$1.122-million shortfall.
That shortfall was allegedly split among Moulton, McLeod, and Moulton White, with J$111,000 reportedly deposited into Moulton White’s personal and team accounts. Prosecutors claim the trio deliberately concealed the transaction from senior bank officers, pointing to an organised internal conspiracy.
Further allegations detail how, on September 30, 2022, Samuels allegedly caused J$2.5 million to be withdrawn from the customer’s local savings account under false pretenses, claiming it was authorised and intended for “loan fees”.
On August 12, Samuels and Moulton allegedly withdrew J$900,000 from one ghost account.
On August 31, another J$1.2 million was taken from a second ghost account, followed by J$850,000 from a third on September 6.
Then on October 7, Moulton, McLeod, and Samuels allegedly withdrew J$1 million each from two separate ghost accounts by falsely pretending the transactions had been approved.
The indictment also alleges that US$170,000 from the customer’s real USD account was transferred to a ghost account in her name, along with another US$30,000 to a different ghost account.
In addition, both Moulton sisters are accused of violating the bank’s code of ethics and conflict of interest policy through an improper lending arrangement. In one instance, Tricia Moulton allegedly authorised a US$105 withdrawal from her sister’s overdrawn account to pay off another relative’s credit card debt. The transaction reportedly bypassed internal controls and caused additional financial loss to the bank.
McLeod is represented by attorney Peter Champagnie, KC. Moulton is represented by Kemar Robinson, while Tishan Samuels is being represented by Rita Allen Brown. Moulton White is being represented by Deborah Martin.