Two More Charged in Manchester Card‑Skimming, Cryptocurrency Laundering Ring Including Fast‑Food Employee

Detectives from the Jamaica Constabulary Force Fraud Squad and the Financial Crime Investigation Division of the Specialised Investigation Branch charged 25‑year‑old fast‑food employee Alrick Bruce and 23‑year‑old sales representative Shanae Smith in connection with a Manchester card‑skimming and cryptocurrency laundering probe. The pair were charged on March 5, 2026, after simultaneous operations in Mandeville, Manchester and Maverly, St. Andrew.

Bruce faces four counts: conspiracy to defraud, simple larceny, possession of identity information and breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act. Smith was charged with conspiracy to defraud and unlawfully making available a device or data for the commission of an offence.

Police allege Bruce compromised several customers’ card information while working at a restaurant drive‑thru between June 2025 and January 2026. Investigators say Bruce used the compromised data to purchase Bitcoin and then transferred the proceeds — identified in multiple reports as approximately $1.5 million — to a bank account described in at least one account as owned by Smith. Iriefm explicitly reported the transferred sum as approximately JM$1.5 million.

The arrests on March 5 follow an earlier swoop on February 14 that netted three fast‑food employees. Those suspects were accused in what media reports described as having "fleeced approximately $600,000 from a customer’s bank card" and in other accounts as carrying out "unauthorised transactions totalling over $600,000." Reporting on the February operation did not specify the restaurant name or the currency of the $600,000 figure.

Simultaneous operations for the March charges were conducted in Maverly, St. Andrew and Mandeville, Manchester. Police seized two firearms and five rounds of ammunition during those actions. Both Bruce and Smith are reported to reside on Highway Drive, Mandeville, Manchester.

Court records show Bruce and Smith are due to appear in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday, May 4. Senior Superintendent Chris Brown, head of the SIB, said "the investigations continue" as police probe links between alleged drive‑thru skimming and the conversion of stolen funds into cryptocurrency.

Some outlets reported the pair "were arrested on Monday" without specifying the calendar date; the charging date cited in the original report is March 5, 2026. Police have not provided public details in the supplied accounts on bail decisions, the name of the restaurant involved, or the methods used to trace Bitcoin purchases to the bank account allegedly tied to Smith.

The Fraud Squad and FCID say the probe remains active as investigators prepare for the May 4 court appearance and pursue confirmation of banking and cryptocurrency traces that prosecutors will need to link the alleged drive‑thru skimming to the transfers recovered during searches.