Out of the annals of Jamaican folk lore comes the Ginal (Jinal): a con artist or person who is deceiving...certainly not always just a jokingly mischievous sort.

Commenting on the Lotto Scam Culture with Applications to Lottery Scams:
So we remain a country of open secrets. Everybody can tell you who owns what and who is involved in what, but few would be prepared to bell the cat. Some people say that it is more important to preserve life and limb - others are just content to be recipients of the largesse, regardless of how corrupt the sources might be.

I have come to recognise that a part of that largesse and the "political pull" for young people entering politics is the type of motor vehicle they might acquire. Before the election last year I overhead a conversation involving two young men aspiring for political office and the comments were about what type of SUV they were expecting to get when the party won. It is exactly that type of entitlement mentality that leads to corruption.

The lotto scam culture, which I describe as a culture of corruption, criminality and greed, is alive and well in Jamaica and has contaminated the system from top to bottom with apparently no age, gender, or socio-economic barriers. The round-up of the large number of "cross-dressers" allegedly involved in the lotto scam...ago spoke volumes. I personally had no idea that anything of that scope and scale was taking place in Jamaica. The fact that some of those detained were teenagers is equally alarming.

One of the maladies of Jamaican society is the rabid materialism and the unfettered quest for more and more things. It is the big car, big house, "big man" that people respect, and to gain that type of respectability some people are prepared to engage in whatever scam is available.
The lotto scam has been around for a long time causing murder and mayhem, and wreaking havoc on unsuspecting victims. Finally, something is being done to clean it up, and just like the Dudus affair, it appears as if pressure is being applied from outside forces to make sure that it is done.

It is one thing when ordinary citizens are caught up in acts of criminality. It's a completely different story when those acts of crime involve lawmakers and other members of the political directorate. Who is to set the example and guard the shop?
(Excerpted from Jamaica Observer: Heart to Heart: The Lotto Scam Culture by Betty Ann Blaine...24𡥖012)


Youtube Links:
NBC NEWS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4PBQrMYJQ

CBS NEWS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYu_huPCw00

HUFFINGTON POST
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/jamaica-lottery-scam-fraud-suspects-arrested_n _1525498.html


Noh care how boar hog try fi hide under sheep wool, 'im grunt always betray 'im.
Meaning: Don't care how much disguise someone puts on, their true self will surface.

A noh siame diay leaf drop a river bottom it rotten.
Meaning: Time is the master. One will wait a long time to catch up with someone who offends him or her.