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Montego Bay  Deputy Mayor Arrested In Connection With Lottery Scam
Jamaica police have charged the deputy mayor Michael Troupe of Montego Bay with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition as part of an investigation into a lottery scam targeting elderly Americans. Police said Friday that 51-year-old Michael Troupe and his 21-year-old son Jevaughn Troupe both face the same charges. Both were among four suspects arrested during an early-morning raid as police investigate a lottery scam that generates about $300 million a year. Authorities so far have detained 142 people in connection with the scam, but only 19 have been charged so far.
Scientist Names Marine Parasite After Bob Marley
(AP) A tiny blood-sucking parasite that infests fish on Caribbean coral reefs has been named after Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley. Arkansas State University marine biologist Paul Sikkel discovered the parasite off the U.S. Virgin Islands a decade ago but it was only recently unveiled as "Gnathia marleyi" as an homage to the singer. Sikkel says he dubbed the tiny crustacean due to his "respect and admiration" for Marley, who died in 1981. The National Science Foundation says the creature is a new species within the family of gnathiids, parasites commonly found on coral reefs that are ecologically similar to blood-sucking ticks on land. It infests some fish that inhabit reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean.
PNP Says They Received $1 Million From Swindler
The leadership of Jamaica's governing party acknowledged Thursday that it received $1 million from a high-profile swindler who defrauded thousands of people across the Caribbean and the United States, but said it doesn't believe it is obligated to refund a cent. The People's National Party said it spent the $1 million it received from David Smith during the 2007 campaign for national elections, but its investigators found no records of another alleged gift of $2 million. Ruling party chairman Robert Pickersgill said party leaders don't believe they have to pay back the money to help roughly 6,000 bilked investors recoup their losses with Smith's Olint investment club because he had not been revealed as a crook at the time the $1...
US Appeals Court Upholds Buju Banton's Conviction
(AP) A federal appeals court has upheld Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton's conviction on cocaine conspiracy and trafficking charges. Banton's attorney, David O. Markus, argued that a government informant had improperly entrapped the Grammy-winning singer. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled last Thursday that the evidence supported Banton's 2011 conviction in Tampa federal court. The panel also agreed with the jury's conviction of Banton on a gun possession charge, which the trial judge had dismissed after the verdict was read. The judges rejected Banton's argument that his right to a speedy trial had been violated. Banton's real name is Mark Myrie. He's serving a 10-year prison...
Terror Fabulous Sentence To 90 Days In Jail
Cecil "Terror Fabulous" Campbell pleaded guilty when he appeared in the Spanish Town RM Court last Tuesday for using a stone to smash a window in Portmore, St Catherine. It was reported that Terror Fabulous used a brick to smash the window to the house of a Portmore based Justice of the Peace. The deejay was sentenced following his guilty plea when for malicious destruction of property and paid for the window said to be valued $11,000 dollars. Terror Fabulous was sentenced to 90 day's hard labor.
Rodney King Found Dead In California
Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday, Police in Rialto, California, received a 911 call from Rodney King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, about 5:25 a.m.,Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital,
Busy Signal Arrested On Extradition Warrant
Glendale "Busy Signal" Gordon, was picked up at the Norman Manley International Airport, immediately after he stepped off a flight from the United Kingdom on Monday May 21, 2012. Busy Signal was returning to Jamaica from a tour in Amsterdam. According to Jamaica law enforcement officers 'Busy' has been under investigation since 2002. Busy Signal was arrested on an extradition warrant for the United States. Busy Signal has waived his right to an extradition hearing to go to the US to be tried for absconding bail.
Claim Says Jamaican Scammer Funded Political Parties
(AP)Jamaica's two main political parties are investigating allegations a Jamaican fraudster gave them millions in 2007. A confiscation order by a Turks and Caicos court claims that convicted fraudster David Smith gave generously to both the Jamaica Labor Party and the People's National Party. Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is accused of accepting $1 million from Smith, who ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme through a phony investment group called Olint. Patterson of the PNP denies "soliciting or receiving any such gift." The PNP says it has no record of receiving money from Smith. Labor Party says it is aware that Smith was a contributor. It says it is examining the claim that $5 million was donated. Smith got 30 years...
Gatlin Beat Powell In The 100m At Diamond League Meet In Doha
The American track team got the best of their Jamaican rivals in the sprints at the season-opening Diamond League meet in Doha on Friday. Justin Gatlin led the way for the Americans, nipping Jamaica's Asafa Powell at the line to win the 100 meters in a time of 9.87 seconds. Powell got off to the faster start but Gatlin pulled even and then managed to get in front as they crossed the line. Gatlin tied Powell's world record in Doha six years ago only to see the result erased when he was caught doping a few weeks later. Gatlin had tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone, which led to a four-year ban. Powell, who has lost to Gatlin seven times in 10 meetings, said he wouldn't let it happen the next time.
Mavado joins Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records co-founder, Birdman announced that his label has now signed We The Best Music Group under their imprint, making Mavado an affiliate of the Young Money Cash Money Billionaires (YMCMB) as he's now under the Cash Money umbrella. Last summer, Mavado signed his first international record deal with DJ Khaled’s We The Best Music Group and has since release reputable efforts such as Emergency with label mate, Ace Hood as well as Survivor, featuring Senegalese-American hip-hop artiste, Akon and Soulja Girl.
Jamaica Forms Task Force To Battle Lottery Scams
Jamaica announced a new government task force Thursday to fight proliferating lottery scams that have made the Caribbean country a center for international telemarketing fraud. The Jamaican and U.S. governments already have a 3-year-old joint task force that has been dealing with the schemes, which mainly target elderly Americans, but the problem has gotten worse. Three years and roughly 100 arrests later, the United States-Jamaica task force set up to combat the burgeoning lottery scam appears to have failed spectacularly. The most conservative estimates put the yearly take from Jamaican scams at $300 million, up from about $30 million in 2009. Montego Bay has earned the reputation for being the epicentre of the lottery scam, and...
Bob Marley Documentary "Marley" Released In Jamaica Last Week
Thousand reggae fans crowded a Kingston park late Thursday night to watch a screening of a documentary about Bob Marley, the icon of reggae music who brought the Jamaican musical genre to every corner of the globe. Marley, which will be released worldwide on Friday, premiered in his Jamica to high praise from Jamaicans who marveled at footage showing the late singer's impassioned interviews, family life and loose-limbed stage presence.
Nicki Minaj Deletes Her Twitter Account
Nicki Minaj has reportedly deleted her Twitter account @nickiminaj after a dispute with a fan website. The popular rapper reportedly became frustrated after a fan site apparently leaked some of her new music. She tweeted The offending site is down, stripped of all of it’s content with only the word “closed” posted. The site just plays the song Dear Old Nicki in a loop.
Trinidad Finds More Oil
Trinidad's state-owned petroleum company says it has discovered 48 million barrels of crude oil off the island's southwest coast. Trinidad's Petrotrin President Designate Khalid Hassanali said late Thursday that it is the company's biggest discovery in a decade. The crude oil is located in 60 feet of water. Prime Minister Kamla Persaud-Bissessar said the anticipated revenue would be used for several development projects throughout the country. Prime Minister Kamla Persaud-Bissessar stated,
Group Calls For Jamaica To Stop Open Trash Fires
(AP) Jamaica must clamp down on trash fires because the smoke, soot and microscopic pollutants they release into the air are serious health hazards, an environmental group said Wednesday. The Jamaica Environment Trust called on the government to establish air quality testing in areas likely to be affected by dump fires and to publish the results routinely. It is also urging authorities to try to stop the open burning of trash, which is widespread. A government report released this week said alarming levels of volatile organic compounds were dispersed in the air from a fire that burned for more than a week in February at an open-air dump in Kingston. It created a plume of smoke that could be seen for miles and affected schools...
Fake Jamaican Sauce
When food firm Wanis lost the rights to import popular Jamaican sauce Pickapeppa, They decided they would make the sauce themselves in a factory 4,690 miles from Jamaica in Wisbech, Cambs UK.They invented their own recipe, printed thousands of fake labels and produced around 30,000 bottles of the counterfeit sauce over 16 months. The scam wasn't exposed until a shopper noticed the sauce tasted sweeter than usual and complained to Pickapeppa’s Jamaican producers. Wanis managers Sanjay Wadhwani, 45, and Vickas Shah, 35, admitted breaking trademark laws last week at Harrow Crown Court, North-West London. They were given community sentences and the firm, one of the UK’s biggest Afro-Caribbean food specialists, was fined £10,000 with...
Iconic Aboriginal Country and Reggae Artiste Jimmy Little Dies at 75
Jimmy Little, one of Australia's most famous Aboriginal musicians, died Monday after a long illness, his family said. He was 75. The iconic artist died at his home in the city of Dubbo, about 250 miles west of Sydney, after a long struggle with diabetes, kidney problems and a heart condition. Little was one of the first indigenous artists to win mainstream success in Australia, playing everything from country to reggae across a nearly 60-year career. Little is survived by his daughter, Frances Claire Peters-Little, and his grandson, James Henry Little.

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