WESTERN BUREAU

A man, accused of embezzling more than $1 million from his employers, was granted bail in the same amount he allegedly stole.

Peter Tomlinson was offered bail with one or two sureties for 77 counts of embezzlement, in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, on Wednesday.

Tomlinson, who resides in Farm Heights, St. James, was instructed to surrender his travel documents and to report to the Mount Salem Police Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, until the matter is disposed of.

A stop-order was also imposed upon him and he was ordered to stay away from the witnesses in the case.

Several statements to complete the file are still outstanding. He is to return to court on January 30, 2007.

Allegations are that sometime between 2004 and October of this year, Tomlinson reported that a receipt book issued to him by a collections agency company to collect bad debt from persons was missing. However, it was discovered that the same book was used to collect more than $1 million from 77 persons. The receipt book was subsequently recovered from his car.