NASSAU, Bahamas, Jan 28, CMC – A case in which an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and three Grand Bahama residents are accused of orchestrating a visa fraud scheme to bring a Haitian pastor, his wife and their eight children to The Bahamas, has been adjourned to February 23.
The prosecution is alleging that Clevette Simmons, along with Grand Bahama residents Gonesha Joseph, Margaret Mathieu, and Mark Rolle, were involved in a scheme that siphoned more than US$14,000. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false pretences and appeared before Magistrate Charlton Smith in the Freeport Magistrate’s Court.
The prosecution alleges that the defendants arranged for payments to be funnelled through an Island Luck account and a Commonwealth Bank account in exchange for Bahamian visas for the Haitian pastor, his wife, and their eight children. The visas were never delivered.
According to the testimony from the complainant Guerda Monestime, the matter began in March 2023 after her mother learned of a Haitian pastor during a mission trip and sought help securing visas for his family.
Monestime testified that she contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Providence and spoke with a woman who identified herself as Clevette Simmons and was informed that a single-entry visa for Haitians cost US$250, while a one-year visa cost US$850.
The woman after relaying the information to her mother, she called the ministry again the following day and spoke with Simmons, who provided the same information as before.
Monestime said Simmons then provided her personal cellphone number and suggested it would be easier to speak outside of work.
Monestime said she added the number to her WhatsApp and that Simmons also gave her the cellphone number of a supervisor identified as Gina, whom she said could assist further. When she called the number, a woman answered and identified herself as Gina. Monestime said she explained she was seeking visas for a Haitian pastor, his wife, and their eight children, and was told the cost would be $350 per person for a single-entry visa.
Monestime said Gina then instructed her to deposit the funds into an Island Luck account in the name of Mark Rolle, whom Gina described as her son. But when she questioned why the funds could not be deposited directly into Gina’s account, she was told that Rolle worked for the government.
The woman testified that she made an initial deposit of US$550, with US$300 going to Mark Rolle’s Island Luck account and US$250 to another account in the name of Shandice Russell or Rolle, details of which she said were sent to her via WhatsApp by Gina.
Monestime said she contacted Rolle to confirm the deposit and was told the funds were received. She said she sent deposit receipts to both Gina and Rolle via WhatsApp and was later informed that the amount paid covered only entry fees. She was then asked to pay the balance.
Monestime testified that she later deposited US$4,600 into Mark Rolle’s Commonwealth Bank account. She also told the court that she met Rolle in person at Port Lucaya Marketplace, where she worked, and handed him US$2,000 in cash. She said she met him more than four times after that, giving him cash payments ranging from US$1,500 to US$2,000.
Monestime told the court that she paid a total of US$14,850,with US$6,000 coming from her own funds, while the remaining amount was raised by church members in the United States through MoneyGram and Western Union.
Monestime testified that no visas were ever issued.
CM/ah/ir/2026