By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE trial of Akeil Holmes, one of the last surviving suspects in the $1.45m airport heist in 2023, was delayed yesterday until September.

Holmes, 26, appeared before Senior Magistrate Kendra Kelly-Burrows to face charges of stealing, conspiracy to commit stealing, receiving, and money laundering.

A former ICS security officer, Holmes is accused of stealing $1.475m from the Bank of The Bahamas during a security vehicle heist at Lynden Pindling International Airport on November 2, 2023.

Although four prosecution witnesses were present, the matter was adjourned to September 17 and 18 due to the absence of Holmes’ attorney, Sonia Timothy Knowles. She arrived at court after the matter was postponed, having been delayed by a separate Supreme Court matter.

Sergeant Vernon Pyfrom is the prosecutor.

Holmes’ alleged accomplices, Michael Fox Jr and Oral Roberts, 34, were both killed before they could be charged. Roberts was shot dead in the Fox Hill area last July. Fox Jr was killed two months earlier, in May.

Fox Jr and another man, Dino Smith, were central figures in a leaked voice note conversation that allegedly featured senior officer Michael Johnson and attorney Bjorn Ferguson discussing a bribe to avoid prosecution. Smith was killed in January 2024, also before he was formally charged in connection with the heist.

Retired Chief Superintendent Johnson, the former head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), is set to stand trial in the Supreme Court alongside Ferguson and Sergeant Deangelo Rolle in connection with the alleged voice notes.

Johnson is accused of involvement in the theft of $90,000 from the heist proceeds. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, stealing, receiving, and accessory after the fact to stealing.

Ferguson is charged with accessory after the fact to stealing, while Rolle faces a charge of abetment to stealing.