A 50-year-old travel agent has pleaded guilty to four counts of fraudulent conversion before the High Court of Justice, according to Antigua Observer.
Michelle Anthony, of Light Foot, entered the guilty pleas before Justice John Spencer. The offences occurred at Old Parham Road and in St. John's between 2022 and 2023. Sentencing has been adjourned to September 25th.
The case centres on allegations that Anthony defrauded the government and two private individuals of more than $44,000 combined. She was charged in December in connection with the scheme.
As reported by Antigua Observer, more than $29,000 was taken from the government last August. The funds were linked to arrangements by the Festivals Commission to send the Hells Gate Steel Orchestra — then-reigning Panorama champions — to New York for the city's Antigua and Barbuda Day festivities.
The Commission stated at the time that the fraud caused significant setbacks to its planned activities, including the 2023 Labour Day celebrations in New York.
Two additional individuals were also reportedly defrauded by Anthony of several thousand dollars during the same period.
An earlier committal hearing in the matter had been adjourned to April 24th, ahead of this week's guilty pleas.
