Man facing bigamy charge was victim of scam

| 17/07/2019 | 10 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): Melvin Samuel Williams, a Jamaican national living in Cayman who had been charged with bigamy, had his name cleared this week when it emerged that he was the victim of a divorce scam. The crown withdrew the case against him and offered no evidence, telling the court that it had emerged Williams was one of several Jamaicans who were conned into believing they were divorced in a scam that had been running for two years on the neighbouring island.

From the get-go Williams had denied the charges on the grounds that he had filed for a divorce through the Jamaican Supreme Court, which he had paid for and believed had been granted. But it turned out that Williams was one of several victims of the scam that even included members of the Jamaican judiciary.

Williams and the other victims had paid cash to complete divorce proceedings to court officials in Jamaica and had received what turned out to be fraudulent divorce certificates. Although the crown had been sceptical of Williams’ claims, eventually after his attorney submitted significant evidence demonstrating to the crown what had happened, they agreed to offer no evidence.

Justice Roger Chapple, who was supposed to have heard the trial this week, returned a not guilty verdict and discharged Williams.

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Category: Courts, Crime

Comments (10)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I told my new wife I was still married. She said it was big a me to let her know.

  2. Anonymous says:

    since in Cayman there is no tax purposes for a marriage. Who cares if your married more than once. Great. I want 3 wives. If i can afford them. Why not? If they are fine with it. Why not?

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  3. Elvis says:

    Wow that’s unusual, fake documents from Jamaica, who’d have ever guessed that?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    So what does this mean? Is he still considered married to the first wife? Is he still considered married to the second wife? Does he legally have two wives now? Or the second marriage is null and void and he now has to divorce legally his first wife? Enquiring minds want to know.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Still married to first wife, second marriage null – never legally existed – but not guilty of a criminal offence.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Wasn’t it in JAMAICA? Hello there!

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Marriage is a scam

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  7. Anonymous says:

    That’s good news. I feel bad for him. He genuinely thought he had done what was intended.
    Those scammers are both clever (like who’d have thought to come up with this one!!) and really stupid.

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