Philpott Martin, the 26-year-old systems administrator accused of hacking into the Digicel system and transferring about $10 million worth of call credit, was denied bail in the Corporate Area Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The court was told that Martin, who was employed to Airtime Limited in Kingston, was assigned a user name to access the network. It is alleged that he accessed Digicel's system and transferred the credit. The court was told that further investigations are ongoing and the figure involved could be increased. It was also revealed that officials in the Cayman Islands and the US may have an interest in Martin.

Martin is charged with simple larceny and conspiracy to defraud. His attorney, Tom Tavares-Finson, told the court that Martin was a second-year student pursuing computer science at the University of Technology.

flight risk

He tried to secure bail for Martin by telling the court that his client could not and had no means of interfering with the investigations. He said he was not a flight risk and also pointed out that all Martin's school equipment and computers had been removed from his home. He also mentioned his client's previously untarnished record.

He told the court that he had an issue with the fact that the police, when they went to make the arrest, took a civilian technician reportedly from Digicel. He said the technician used Martin's computer for a considerable amount of time. He also said he believed that the Crown would have difficulty prosecuting its case.

Resident Magistrate Lorna Shelly-Williams did not accede to the attorney's request. She, however, told prosecutors that she was giving them two weeks to wrap us both the local investigations and to find out what the overseas interests were.