The continuation of the trial into the 2004 US$2M insurance scam was on Wednesday adjourned after two lawyers announced that they have applied to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to represent the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, on which the scam was allegedly committed.
Attorneys-at-law Nigel Hughes and Gino Persaud told the court that they have applied to watch the interests of the church, which was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day, 2004. In the light of the announcement, Magistrate Hazel Octive Hamilton, who is hearing the case at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court, adjourned the matter to January 21.
It is alleged that on December 29, 2004, Frederick Sukhdeo, with intent to defraud forged a document purporting to be a GuyFlag fire and perils claim for US$2M (approximately $400M) for the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. He is also accused of trying to obtain the said sum of money by virtue of a forged fire and perils claim form.
According to the facts of the case, GuyFlag submitted a bogus claim for payment to its reinsurance agent AON Re and Sukhdeo, who was the head of the sister operation, the National Cooperative Credit Union Limited, was presented as a representative of the church dealing with the fire.
It was when GuyFlag/Sukhdeo allegedly approached a claims adjuster here that the alleged scam was discovered.
Investigations revealed that the church had no policy with GuyFlag. Sukhdeo, the alleged mastermind of the fraud, was arrested on November 17, 2005 and placed on $50,000 station bail. He was not charged until March 2006, with forgery and endeavouring to obtain upon a forged document and he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on March 21. He was released on $75,000 bail on that occasion.
Since the trial was set last year it has suffered several delays. When the matter was called in June the trial was again adjourned after the magistrate announced that she was giving priority to a narcotics matter since the defendants in the matter were on remand. When the matter came up on March 21 the magistrate granted an adjournment when none of Sukhdeo’s lawyers turned up.
In August, the prosecution opened its case with testimony from Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Alleyne. He testified that when he was appointed Bishop in January 2004, he was responsible for all the catholic churches in Georgetown.
Bishop Benedict Singh is the next witness scheduled to take the stand. The prosecution has about ten witnesses in the matter.
Sukhdeo is being represented by attorneys-at-law Sanjeev Datadin and Winston Murray.
