By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
A WOMAN accused of theft and laundering of hundreds of thousands of dollars during her tenure at The College of The Bahamas will not have her matter transferred to the Supreme Court until next week.
Chimeka Gibbs, 39, returned to Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday before Magistrate Constance Delancy for the presentation of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI). However, the documents were not ready and the Crown requested an adjournment to September 14.
The request was granted.
Gibbs is facing 20 counts of falsification of accounts, 16 counts of stealing by reason of employment, and four counts of laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct for her alleged actions between March 2008 and October 2015 as an employee at COB.
It is alleged that Gibbs stole over $500,000 from COB by reason of her employment at the institution. It is also alleged that she falsified numerous COB direct deposit files, the result of which purported to show that she was entitled to over $200,000 in salary payments.
It is also alleged that she laundered over $800,000 worth of funds to various local bank accounts – FirstCaribbean, Commonwealth Bank, RBC Finco and Scotiabank – between 2008 and 2015. According to court documents, Gibbs served as both a senior clerk and a human resources assistant at the institution.
Gibbs will not be allowed to enter a plea to the charges until she is formally arraigned before a judge of the Supreme Court.
She has retained lawyer Roberto Reckley to represent her.
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