A Supreme Court judge yesterday ordered a mental assessment for a former police officer who is accused of committing fraud to obtain more than $76,000 from two government departments through the creation of a fake marriage certificate.

Loucetta Beckles, 68, appeared before Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe, who ordered that she undergo a mental health assessment.

Mr Justice Wolffe also called for a social inquiry report — and issued a confiscation order regarding funds the accused allegedly obtained.

It follows a covert investigation conducted by the financial intelligence wing of the Bermuda Police Service in 2022.

Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court that Ms Beckles — who served on the BPS from 1992 to 2000 — was charged with creating a fraudulent marriage certificate to deceive the Accountant-General’s Department.

The act was committed between an unknown date and March 2021.

Ms Beckles was also charged with using the fraudulent document to deceive the Department of Social Insurance in June 2021.

Ms Clarke told the court that in December 2022, the Financial Crimes Unit of the BPS received an anonymous complaint that the accused was receiving widow’s benefits from the Bermuda Government using a false document.

During investigations, police discovered that her husband, whom she married in 1995, died in March 2021.

However, investigators found that her husband had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, with the separation formalised in October 2017.

The court heard that the defendant and the deceased had a son. Her former husband had two other children from a previous marriage.

Ms Clarke said despite the dissolution of the marriage, the defendant and her ex-husband continued to share a common residence.

An accident in November 2019 left him with long-term paralysis and other health complications, requiring specialised medical care overseas.

The court heard that Ms Beckles had travelled overseas with her ex-husband until he died in March 2021.

During investigations spanning several government departments, police obtained records and interviewed officials.

Investigators found that following her ex-husband’s death, the accused issued a marriage certificate to the Accountant-General’s Department and the Department of Social Insurance which indicated that the two were married in January 16, 2021, a few months before he died.

Ms Clarke said police investigations found that the marriage certificate, as well as a death certificate in the man’s name, were not genuine.

On application forms to obtain financial benefits from two government departments, the accused allegedly falsely claimed that they had been married at the time of his death.

Following the processing of her applications, in about August 2021, monthly payments representing widow’s benefits were paid to her account by the Account-General’s Department.

Payments from the Department of Social Insurance were also processed.

The court heard that monthly payments of $1,714, from the Accountant-General’s Department and $916 from the Department of Social Insurance went to her account.

Ms Beckles, from St George’s, was arrested at home in July 2023.

The court heard that by that point she had received $47,018 from the Account-General’s Department and $28,164 from the Department of Social Insurance, totalling $76,183.

The matter will be heard again in court on March 2.

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