ERMA Mitchell outside court yesterday. Photo: Donovan McIntosh
By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A ROYAL Bank of Canada financial services officer who was accused of falsifying several accounts and defrauding the bank of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a decade ago, was yesterday denied bail ahead of her trial.
Erma Mitchell appeared before Magistrate Armbrose Armbrister charged with over 80 fraud related offences which the prosecution alleged she committed between April 2008 and December 2009.
Yesterday, the 67-year-old was charged with 17 counts of falsification of accounts, 23 counts of forgery, 23 counts of uttering a forged document, 23 counts of fraud by false pretences and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.
The finance officer was accused of falsifying the RBC accounts by fabricating personal loan application forms which were filed in the names of other people.
The prosecution argued the accused forged one such application on April 2, 2008, by purporting to show that a woman had $21,000 worth of assets so that she could qualify for a $15,000 loan.
They also alleged Mitchell repeated the offence on March 31, 2009, when she filed an application which claimed that a man had $125,000 worth of assets so that he could qualify for a $22,500 loan.
The accused was further charged with falsifying another account on August 21, 2009, after she purported that another woman’s assets totalled $203,030 so that she could receive a $21,000 loan.
During the hearing, Mitchell was also accused of conspiring to commit fraud by false pretences between April 2008 and December 2009, as well as defrauding RBC of over $350,000 by unlawfully obtaining 23 large payments within that time frame.
The prosecution alleged the accused also forged and uttered several fraudulent RBC promissory notes, policy schedules and certificates of insurance for several people, including a fraudulent Confidence Insurance Brokers & Agents certificate for a 2003 Jeep insured to Shanique Winder.
Yesterday, Mitchell denied all of the allegations and her case was adjourned to May 25 next year for trial.
Due to the nature of the charges, she was denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services until that time.
The accused’s attorney, Jairam Mangra, said he is in the process of applying to the Supreme Court for bail for his client.
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