The director of public prosecutions (DPP) in Antigua, Jamaican attorney Anthony Armstrong, appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday on allegations of fraudulent conversion.
Armstrong arrived in the island on Saturday and was arrested in connection with the accusation.
His passport was confiscated, and he was released on J$500,000 bail.
The charges are in relation to the sale of three properties in Jamaica 18 years ago when Armstrong represented the complainant, who was the vendor.
Armstrong claims he is not guilty of the accusations since the sale proceeds were paid to the complainant’s father, whom he had authorized as his agent while he was incarcerated in the United States.
Armstrong said the complainant and his cousin owned one of the properties.
He further said that after the complainant returned to Jamaica he received threats from the complainant, claiming that he told him that he was going to “dutty up” his name and cause him to lose his job.
The complainant had reported Armstrong to the General Legal Council (GLC) over the matter.
Armstrong was then found guilty of professional misconduct by the GLC’s Disciplinary Committee in February for signing a document for a client who was not present.
When the matter was discussed in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Monday morning, attorney-at-law Hugh Wildman expressed shock at his client’s arrest, claiming there was no foundation for Armstrong to be charged.
Wildman also requested that his client’s passport be returned.
The investigating officer in the case, however, objected to the return of Armstrong’s passport. It was said that the police asked Armstrong to come in for an interview in August, but he declined.
However, Wildman sought to refute the investigator’s claim, stating that his client returned to facilitate the inquiry and expected to attend a question-and-answer session but was instead arrested and charged.
Parish Judge Venise Blackstock Murray requested that the case be set for Thursday when she will rule on the passport request.
 in Antigua, Jamaican attorney Anthony Armstrong, appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court){kind=link}