Joanne Fortune escorted by police

Police in Grenada have slapped 15 criminal charges against 26-year old Joanne Fortune of Paddock, St George¹s in connection with forgery and theft conducted at one of the island¹s leading commercial banks.

Fortune was sent back to her homeland on Friday after she was extradited from the United States. She came in on an Air Jamaica flight that landed at the Point Salines International Airport (PSIA) at 4.10 p.m.

The suspect was escorted back to Grenada from New York by local police officers, Portia Lewis and Raymond Lockiby to answer 14 counts of Forgery and one count of Stealing by Reason of Employment.

Fortune made her first court appearance on Tuesday before Chief Magistrate Patricia Mark to answer the charges. The young lady worked for 8 years as an employee at the Grenada Co Operative Bank Ltd as a Customer Services Representative.

She dealt specifically with Credit Cards and is accused of stealing over $700,000.00 from the credit cards of customers. The charges laid against Fortune dates back from 2002 to 2006.

The 26-year old Grenadian woman was arrested in Brooklyn, New York on May 26, at the request of the Director of Public Prosecution, Christopher Nelson following intensive investigation by the local Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in relation to fraud involving the use of credit cards. An arrest warrant was issued by the Chief Magistrate for her arrest in April.

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Christopher Nelson moved against Fortune under the provisions of the 1996 extradition treaty between Grenada and the United States. He made a formal request to the US authority for her arrest and extradition.

When she was picked up, Fortune waived an extradition hearing in the U.S and as a result, a judge in New York issued a surrender order on April 29, authorizing the US Marshall Service in whose custody she was held, to surrender her to the Grenada authorities.

Fortune migrated to the US earlier this year after being dismissed from her bank job. Nelson told local reporters that the extradition is "a great moment" for the DPP office and lauded the efforts and assistance of FIU in investigating the matter and bringing it to some level of closure.

Since the capture of Fortune, it is understood that two other female employees at Co-op bank have been issued dismissal letters to take effect from June 5.

Fortune is due to make her second court appearance on June 26. She is being represented by attorney-at-law, Cajeton Hood.