ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Tuesday May 15, 2018 – A suspended senior police officer and his mother have been charged with fraud related to an alleged racket involving forging Antigua and Barbuda passports.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Ray John, 47, who was suspended last month pending an investigation; and his mother, 63-year-old Yvonne Nickie, were each granted EC$50,000 bail (US$18,523) yesterday when they appeared in court on several charges stemming from offences allegedly committed between January and March this year.

As part of their bail conditions, they had to surrender their travel documents and have to report to the police station daily.

In addition to facing five counts of conspiracy to forge Antigua and Barbuda passports jointly with his Vincentian-born mother, John is also accused of two counts of larceny of 54 multi-layered infilling sheets and one multi-layered infilling patch, valued EC$21,700, (US$8,039) the property of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport Office.

He is further accused of receiving four multi-layered infilling sheets and one multi-layered infilling patch valued at EC$1,300 (US$482), also property of the Antigua and Barbuda Passport Office, knowing same to have been stolen.

Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh ordered the mother and son to return to court on July 11.

The charges they were slapped with stem from an investigation that began in early April, into the discovery of bio pages of Antigua and Barbuda passports in the possession of a man in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

John was subsequently suspended after his home was searched and several items confiscated. His mother was visiting him at the time, but a few days later, as she boarded a flight back home at the V.C. Bird International Airport, she was held by police.