Bank employee testifies that lawyer’s client account is empty and closed

The client bank account of attorney-at-law Norman Leroy Lynch, which was opened in February 1995, is closed and has a balance of zero dollars, a bank employee testified in the lawyer’s fraud case on Wednesday.

Director of Retail Banking Channels at CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, Michelle Whitelaw also told the nine jurors hearing the evidence in the theft and money laundering trial that all transactions conducted on the accused’s client account were deemed lawful and no complaints about withdrawals or deposits were made.

“At no point in time has he come or anybody come to the bank to say that the transactions were not for the [client] account of N. Leroy Lynch,” the former Senior Bank Manager of FirstCaribbean’s Broad Street branch said.

Whitelaw was one of 11 witnesses to give evidence in the case prosecuted by Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis and Crown Counsel Romario Straker.

Lynch is accused of stealing $50 000 belonging to the estate of Arthur O’Neal Thomas between August 18, 2005 and December 21, 2008. He is also charged with stealing $407 634, the proceeds of a FirstCaribbean International Bank cheque made payable to Leroy Lynch and belonging to Thomas’ estate. This reportedly occurred between June 22, 2007 and December 21, 2008.

Further, the lawyer is accused of money laundering in that he disposed of $457 634, being the proceeds of crime, also between June 22, 2007 and December 21, 2008.

Whitelaw testified that the bank investigated and reviewed the client account and banking statements of the accused after she was approached by Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mark White. She said the officer informed her that the Fraud Squad was investigating a matter regarding Lynch.

The senior bank worker told the court presided over by Justice Randall Worrell that Lynch was the only signatory to the account and was the “only person authorised to give instructions as to how the account should be administered”.

Whitelaw also pointed to withdrawals and deposits that were made on the particular account.

She disclosed that a cheque for $407 634 was deposited to Lynch’s account in June 2007. However, she said that based on the records, that sum was not withdrawn from the account in that amount.

The amount of $457 634, she said, was also not withdrawn from the account, neither was $50 000 taken out in “one go”.

However, she said there were amounts of over $10 000 that were withdrawn.

Sums of $290 714.60 and $23 000 were withdrawn after the $407 634 deposit, Whitelaw disclosed, and then there was a further withdrawal of $24 000 as well as small withdrawals which represented banking charges.

She said acting on information from ASP White, an enquiry was also made for the period July 30, 2005 to August 9, 2005 for a sum of $50 000. The banking official said a deposit for that amount was made in August 2005.

However, Whitelaw explained that based on the documents before the court she was not able to point to the individual $50 000 deposit but was able to show that it was part of a larger deposit of $223 716. 04 which was part of four cheques.

Under cross-examination by lead attorney Marlon Gordon who asked whether there had been cases of money “going off” people’s accounts that they could not account for, the banking official responded, “that’s true”.

But in re-examination by Davis, Whitelaw stated that “at no point in time has he come or anybody come to the bank to say that the transactions were not for the account of N. Leroy Lynch, so the transactions are deemed lawful and for the account of Mr Lynch”.

The prosecution has closed its case against Lynch. The matter is set to continue before the jury on Monday.