Christopher Thomas, STAR Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:

Two residents of Mount Carey in St James were each offered $20,000 bail after they were unable to account for over $26,000 collected from a Western Union office in Montego Bay.

Javion James, 18, and Lenardo Jarrett, 20, appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of unlawful possession of property.

In making a bail application for the two men, attorney-at-law Dalton Reid assured Resident Magistrate Carolyn Tie that his clients could find proper sureties to pay their bail.

James and Jarrett were each offered $20,000 bail with up to two sureties. They are to return to court on June 16.

Allegations are that on May 14, at around 1:20 p.m., the two accused were seen by police officers to exit a Western Union office in Montego Bay. The men were accosted by the officers and found with $26,830.

One of the men said the money was from a cousin in California. However, when the officers asked for the California cousin's contact information, he changed his story and said the money was actually from a friend. He then reportedly said, "Mi just a try a thing in di scamming, but a di fifth time mi a do it." Both men were subsequently arrested and charged.