A popular Jamaican community activist and accountant in South Florida has been jailed in a US$3.6 million tax refund scheme.
Read: J’can busted in US for ‘defrauding’ gov’t, clients
Pamella Watson, 61, had hoped that her charitable work and “extraordinary” efforts to pay restitution for her crimes would persuade the judge to give her a light sentence, but US District Judge James Cohn rejected that argument, sentencing her Thursday to 6.5 years in US federal prison.
Judge Cohn also ordered Watson to pay more than US$3.68 million in restitution.
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“Quite honestly, I don’t believe it’s deserved in this case; so I’m going to decline the invitation,” Cohn said.
Watson, of Davie, Florida, had pulled together more than US$1.2 million in restitution to turn over to the Internal Revenue Service in the seven months she was jailed for fraud, which targeted members of the Jamaican community she claimed she was helping.
Her lawyers suggested a prison term of 3.5 years, and the prosecution recommended that she serve a little more than five years in prison, saying she deserved credit for repaying so much of her debt so quickly, the paper said.
Watson admitted she falsified hundreds of tax returns and refund amounts on IRS forms without her clients’ knowledge.
The court was told that she diverted money to her own accounts and to her spouse, who told the judge he never suspected her criminality until she was arrested in May.
Cohn said that three victims’ letters read aloud in court were among the most powerful he’d ever heard, saying that Watson abused the trust of people who relied on her and used her professional CPA license to steal from her clients and the government.
Watson, a prominent activist who was known for hosting lavish fundraisers and contributing time and money to less fortunate people in South Florida, her native Jamaica and elsewhere, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge in September.
Cohn said he had privately watched a 13-minute sentencing video submitted by the defense that featured family and friends praising Watson’s many charitable endeavors.
A US citizen who migrated from Jamaica in the 1970s, Watson ran her own CPA business in Miami for many years and volunteered for many South Florida charities and organizations.
Watson’s lawyers Bruce Rogow and Tara Campion said their client hopes to turn over another US$350,000 to the IRS when her Davie home is sold.
She has also turned over money that was being held in Jamaica and transferred properties that were purchased before the fraud began to try to repay the government.
him suda round it off to seven tiad a dem and dis damn scamming
what a bitch like she
6 years is not enough ole thief :hoax2
This is an awesome deal!!!! Spare a thought 4 her cuz at least she spent a lot of it on charity n giving back to Jamaica!! Cmon how can u compare robbas n dem scamming n using the money to buy shoes n cloth with this lady that gave bk to schools with fi Har thievings??Go thru dear,u will be out in 4yrs!!
I think you are exaggerating the good she has done. A lot of what is said about her good deeds is just fluff to get her a lower sentence. She is indeed a scammer of the highest order. Using the stolen money to buy expensive cars(s), million dollar house and apartment in Jamaica is no different than any other scammers out there. She wanted to live the high life despite her true income and what I cannot understand is why she didn’t stop when she was ahead.
To top it off, the scam where she uses the money gain from other Jamaicans to pay her own tax liabilities, even though these Jamaicans did not owe the IRS a single dime. That is direct theft, since these folks were asked to hand over money to her under the false pretext that they owe the IRS money…which in reality was not true. Now that she was caught, she is now sorry “for the mess”
As far as I can tell, the $1.5/2.0Million house in Davie is not even on the market, so how is it that she is reporting that $350K will be available to be paid back to the IRS (unless she is arranging a private sale).
It is amazing how she now appears in the latest picture of her (her hair is now totally gray).
Please, She was living a very lavish life in Davie. Lived in a mansion on people money. When you scam your own people it is so sad.
No mansion….likkle old house on prime real estate.
And all the reported “charitable” work was quid pro quo for political gain. Guh siddung a jailhouse comfatebble cause nuh lesbian in deh nah guh harass you. Tuff like.
likkle old house? The house is over 8,500 total square Feet, on 1.03 acres (45,619 S.F.) of land in a gated high-end subdivision (3-car garage, swimming pool, on a lake, etc.). The house was built in 2002/2003. It is worth about $1.8 Million now!
http://tour.vht.com/1017968/12900-kapok-ln-davie-fl-33330/photos
naw condone nothing she do.BUT…how u fi thief and a talk bout give back..
she a go a hell ya now for 4-6 yrs and come back a road with nothing..
me a criminal and if me a take a food me already make up my mind fi hold it an take anything weh come wit it…just so it go..
this woman ya just red eye….
Big woman like dis eeh….shame on har.
Mi did tink it was di residence offa Sterling. Mi neva see dat house weh yu poce up. Suh di house empty out and listing arredi or is that an old link?
That is an old link before she brought the house. Remember this house in Davie is located in the same subdivision as Noel Strachan’s (Worldwise Ponzi) house that he lost in foreclosure.
http://www.bcpa.net/Photographs.asp?Folio=504023090710
Serve har right. Mi bex bout di low sentance doe :marah Dat bumpy face turbit shoulda get minimum of 10 years.