CICA stays pay-back order but fraud conviction holds

| 26/11/2013
 
(CNS): A bank clerk who was convicted of stealing over $29,000 from a customer's account has been given the chance to argue for an extension to the compensation order for the stolen cash as he says he can't pay the money back yet. Erick Adam was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in June 2012 but following his release from prison in October on parole, Adam had been ordered to make good on his commitment to pay back the money within three years. However, because work he had anticipated getting on release from jail fell through, the former Royal Bank of Canada employee was in danger of returning to jail if he could not come up with the cash by 26 December.

 
Following a failed appeal hearing last week against conviction and the actual order, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal issued a stay on the compensation order and directed the Grand Court to hear Adam's arguments for an extension to pay back the $29,000 he was convicted of stealing.
  
The panel of judges explained that they were not overturning the order but Adam, the son of the former community affairs minister Mike Adam, was for the time being no longer at risk of returning to prison. He now had the chance to agree a new timeline on how he would pay back the cash.
 
Represented by local attorney Richard Barton, Adam had appealed his conviction, stating that the case was based largely on circumstantial evidence and hand writing experts, who had rated the probability of Adam being the author of the forged signatures on cheques used to steal the money, which Barton said had required a more specific direction from the judge to the jury. The lawyer also argued on his client's behalf that the commitment to pay back the cash, which he still denies stealing, was based on the assumption that he would get work. Through no fault of his own, the promised employment fell through and he was no longer in a financial position to pay.
 
The appeal court disagreed and dismissed the appeal against conviction and refused to quash the compensation order but directed that the Grand court hear Adam's case.
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  1. Anonymous says:

    The PPM will be forcing business to hire him in a few years.

  2. Anonymous says:

    he's not an expat!  home grown caymanian criminal.

  3. Anonymous says:

    When these thieves appeal, and dishonestly deny their dishonesty, they should have their parole revoked or sentence increased.  Whose fault is this this scumbag cannot find a job?  His for being a greedy thief.

  4. Anonymous says:

    I guess the the national work force/goverment doesn't practice as preeched "give people with records another chance", if government wont' help why is government ramming down employees throats on hiring ex cons????

  5. Anonymously says:

    Another expat white collar criminal.

    • Anonymous says:

      Expat white collar criminal? I don't think so – the amount of the theft is too low. Usually they take you for hundreds of thousands if not millions. 

    • Castor says:

      Did you not read the article?

  6. Anonymous says:

    I am sure he would find the money if jail was imminent.  Surely he has relatives who are solvent.

    • Anonymous says:

      Solvent, we can assume. But willing to just givehim the money? Would you if he was family? Or would you tell him to work for it? And how many of us who are solvent are also in a position to employ someone. If this were my cousin I couldn't lend them the money and I don't have a bussiness so though I'm solvent I couldn't help them. I imagine his family are in  a similar boat. This is the hard reality for people convicted of theft. There are no 'get out of jail free' cards. (Or at least very few.)

  7. Anonymous says:

    The promised employment must have been dependent on the UDP returning to power.