At the Blairmont Court on Monday, Magistrate Tejnarine Ramroop granted bail in the sum of $1M to a man who was facing charges of break and enter and larceny.
The court heard that between September 14 and 22, 48-year-old Philbert Kellawan of Bush Lot Village, West Berbice broke into the dwelling of Nasrudeen Mohamed and stole one Remington 12-gauge single barrel shotgun with 100 matching cartridges valued $250,000 and one Taurus .32 revolver with matching rounds worth $215,000.
He also reportedly carted off $2.7M cash, US$7,000, 3,000 pounds and Can$1,910. Reports are that Mohamed was out of the country when he received a call from a worker that his house was broken into. Checks were made and the articles which were in a safe were discovered missing.
Attorney Anil Nandlall who is a special prosecutor in the matter opposed bail on the grounds of the “prevalence of these types of offences” and that firearms had been stolen.
He also argued that there is a strong possibility that the accused would intimidate and interfere with witnesses, especially an eyewitness as they both reside at Bush Lot.
The Administration of Justice Act was applied and Nandlall requested that the matter be handled summarily.
Attorney-at-law Lloyd Thomas representing the defendant argued that the offence is bailable and that his client should not be denied his pre-trial liberty. He informed the court that his client had been employed with Mohamed for 28 years.
The matter has been scheduled for next Monday for statements to be served and a date to be fixed for the commencement of the preliminary inquiry at the Fort Wellington Court.
