A local travel agent from Lightfoot has entered a guilty plea to multiple counts of fraudulent conversion, admitting she misappropriated more than $44,000 in public and private funds between 2022 and 2023. Fifty-year-old Michelle Anthony faced four criminal counts during her hearing at the High Court before Justice John Spencer, and she is scheduled to return to the judicial body on September 25 for final sentencing. The single largest sum of stolen cash amounts to more than $29,000, a pool of money that had been earmarked exclusively for travel logistics tied to a high-profile cultural performance. The funds were intended to cover travel arrangements for the Hells Gate Steel Orchestra, which had been invited to appear at Antigua and Barbuda Day celebrations in New York City in August 2023. As the current reigning champions of the regional Panorama steelpan competition, the group’s trip was being organized by the national Festivals Commission. Officials confirmed that the unexpected financial loss forced organizers to disrupt travel plans for the orchestra and created cascading problems that undermined preparations for the 2023 Labour Day festivities held in New York alongside the Antigua and Barbuda Day events. Beyond the public funds stolen from the government commission, Anthony also confessed to two additional fraudulent conversion offenses that targeted two separate private clients, each of whom lost thousands of dollars to her criminal actions. Court records confirm that all of the illegal activities took place across two locations in Antigua: Old Parham Road and the capital city of St. John’s. Anthony was first taken into custody and charged with the offenses in December 2023, before the case was transferred to the High Court for formal prosecution and trial proceedings.
Travel Agent Michelle Anthony Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Government, Two Others of More Than $44,000
