Social media’s ‘Pajama Billionaire’ cries on being freed in court

Social media personality, ‘Pajama Billionaire’, cried in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Friday after he was freed of alleged breaches of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act.

‘Pajama Billionaire’, whose real name is Chavez Allen, was accused of hosting an illegal raffle on social media in November 2020, with the gate prize having been a SUV Mercedes Benz motorcar.

The accused man cried after the case against him was dismissed, reportedly for the second time.

Before the start of a trial, Allen’s attorney, Peter Champagnie, submitted that the prosecution of Allen was an abuse of process on the basis that it was not the first time that the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) had brought the charges against his client.

Champagnie told the court that eight months before, the same charges concerning the same allegations were dismissed for want of prosecution.

The attorney said the dismissal then was after witnesses had failed to attend court despite several notifications by the prosecution to attend.

He further argued that since then, witnesses that would have been called in defence of his client had migrated and, in one case, had died.

On that basis, it was submitted that proceeding with a trial would be unfair to his client.

After hearing further legal arguments from Champagnie and the prosecutor, the judge ruled in favour of Allen.

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