Scammer Who Defrauded Marcia Griffiths Of Millions Remanded
The man, who is accused of scamming millions of dollars from Queen of Reggae Marcia Griffiths, was remanded in custody until October 4 when he appeared in court on Wednesday.
According to Radio Jamaica, the court was told that the case file for the matter, was still incomplete. Additionally, an antecedent report for the man was requested by the court.
In June, reports surfaced that Griffiths had fallen victim to the fraudster, after she was reportedly scammed of almost $5 million in a bogus real estate deal.
The man, according to the police, was recently released from prison after serving nearly 12 years for fraud. He was subsequently charged by the Fraud Squad with obtaining money by means of false pretense and was placed behind bars, where he has already spent approximately three months.
According to Fraud Squad detectives, the man had collected US$30,000 and J$250,000 from the Reggae songstress as payment for a property, after he initially approached the Fire Burning artist in June 2021 and offered her a “deal”.
According to the court documents filed by the police, under the deal, the accused man said he and his partners could lend Griffiths US$500,000 to purchase a property. However, she would have to pay US$30,000 plus J$250,000 for fees and stamp duty.
The 72-year-old songbird had reported the matter to the police after she discovered that she had been defrauded by the man.
Griffiths whose career spans more than 50 years, attended Kingston Senior School, and was an ardent member of her church choir.
She began singing professionally as a vocalist in 1964, for the Byron Lee and the Dragonaires band after, lead singer of the Blues Busters, Philip “Boasie” James, discovered that she could sing and took her to Byron Lee, and insisted that she be included on an upcoming talent show to be held at the Carib Theatre in her native Kingston.
Marcia later became affiliated with Coxsone Dodd’s- Studio One, where she recorded her first Jamaican number-one, Feel Like Jumping.
While at Studio One, she collaborated with singer/songwriter Bob Andy on the track Really Together, which was the first of many duets that the two would record, among the others being Young Gifted and Black and The Pied Piper.
Ten years after entering the music business, Marcia teamed up with Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley to form the I-Threes, which became a critical part of Bob Marley’s ensemble.
After returning to a solo career, Marcia hit the Kingston native hit international charts with Electric Boogie, which helped to popularise the dance dubbed the Electric Slide. Electric Boogie peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and has the distinction of being the highest-selling single in the US for a Jamaican female Reggae artiste.
Electric Boogie was first recorded as a duet by Marcia and her childhood friend Bunny Wailer in 1983, and later given backing by British music mogul Chris Blackwell of Island Records in 1989.
Bunny Wailer who was the writer and producer of the original song, recorded a second version as a soloist. The vinyl record of Marcia’s 1983 original version lists her as singer and Bunny Wailer as producer, arranger and background vocalist.
Throughout her illustrious career, Marcia has released songs spanning ska, reggae, and rocksteady and even dancehall, while a part of Penthouse Records.
In 1986, she recorded Everywhere with Penthouse’s Donovan Germain and went on to voice other songs at the label such as Fire Burning, versions of which featured Cutty Ranks and Tony Rebel; I Shall Sing and Land of Love. She also collaborated on songs with Buju Banton and Beres Hammond while at Penthouse in the 1990s.
Griffiths’ has received many awards for her outstanding contribution to music and culture, among them the Prime Minister’s Award of Excellence in 2002.
She received the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, in 2014, as well as The Gleaner Honour Lifetime Achievement Award for Entertainment in 2015. She was also one of three recipients of the 2020 Jamaica Reggae Icon Award.