HSA staff deny false overtime claims

(CNS): Two employees of the Health Services Authority have denied allegations that they made false overtime claims to the hospital and were paid for work they never did. Nick Romano Smith and Dominic Fernando Dacres both pleaded not guilty to various criminal and anti-corruption charges relating to the overtime accusations, when they appeared in Grand Court on Friday. They are now expected to stand trial next April.

The two men were both granted bail but, despite being Caymanians, were asked to surrender their passports to the court.

The crown raised concerns that a third suspect in the case, who has not been charged, left the jurisdiction part-way through the investigation into what officials at the hospital believe were fraudulent claims about the hours the men were working.