Nassau, Bahamas- Fraudster Shukuanya Thompson has been released from prison after the Court of Appeal cut her five-year sentence to 12 months.
Thompson, 41, a former corporate services manager at HLB Galanis, defrauded the National Insurance Board out of $179, 557.06 between May and December of 2016.
HLB Galanis was the accounting firm hired to manage a $10 million loan from the National Insurance Board to fund a housing program.
Thompson committed the crime by doctoring the firm’s books to make duplicate payments to contractors.
In May 2018, Thompson entered into a plea agreement that required her to repay the money to avoid a five-year prison sentence.
Pursuant to the agreement, Thompson made a lump sum payment of $10,000. She was was supposed to make monthly installments of $1,000 over 14 years to repay the balance.
However, Thompson repaid just $16,000 before she defaulted.
As a result, Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis issued a warrant for her committal to prison in August 2020.
Following her imprisonment, Thompson appealed against her conviction and sentence.
The Court dismissed Thompson’s appeal against conviction in January 2021.
By contrast, the court agreed that the magistrate lacked the jurisdiction to make a compensation order in those terms.
Consequently, the magistrate was ordered to re-sentence Thompson in accordance with the law.
When Thompson appeared for re-sentencing in February, Magistrate Rolle-Davis jailed her for five years. He also returned the $16,000 she had already paid in compensation.
Once again, Thompson appealed—this time against the excessive sentence.
Her lawyer, Ryszard Humes, argued that the magistrate did not give sufficient weight to mitigating factors.
Although Thompson pleaded guilty and had no prior convictions, she still received the maximum five-year sentence.
She had also given birth to her fifth child in 2020.
Following a comparison of sentences given to offenders for similar crimes, the Court said Thompson’s five-year sentence was “much too harsh.”
For that reason, the Court cut her sentence to 12 months.
However, the Court noted that Thompson is still civilly liable for whatever loss her actions caused.
