Bishop gives inconsistent testimony
– trial adjourned in absence of other witnesses
Inconsistent testimony was presented to the court hearing the US$2M GuyFlag insurance scam trial yesterday by an 81-year-old retired Bishop and the magistrate was subsequently forced to adjourn owing to the absence of the other witnesses.
Bishop Benedict Singh testified that the Sacred Heart Church, against which the alleged fraud was perpetrated, was insured by Hand-in-Hand and Guyana and Trinidad Mutual (GTM) fire insurance companies and though the policies were effective during his tenure which ended in 2003, they ceased to exit about one year after the fire, which would have been in 2005.
However, under cross-examination, the Bishop who has been in and out of hospital a few times, that the policies ended before 2003 and when asked to give a year, he said 2090.
During the one hour hearing, Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton constantly berated the prosecutor about the witness’s inability to answer the questions properly and more so expressed disappointment that an entire afternoon was wasted since the prosecution was not properly prepared to go ahead as no other witness was present.
She later adjourned to March 30 next year as this was the earliest available date on her calendar.
On that day, the afternoon would again be set aside so that some headway could be made in the case, which has been stalled on numerous occasions for a variety of reasons. The trial was set in the latter part of 2006 and one witness has so far concluded his testimony.
Frederick Sukhdeo, who is accused of being the mastermind of the insurance scam committed on the church, which was completely destroyed by fire on Christmas Day 2004, was present for yesterday’s proceedings. His lawyer Sanjeev Datadin came about 10 minutes after the matter had started.
The cross-examination of another witness, GuyFlag manager Anthony Soares who testified in July should have been the first item at the hearing but because of his absence, the prosecutor called Bishop Singh to the stand.
The magistrate later issued an arrest warrant for Soares, who would have known that he had to be in court yesterday to be cross-examined.
Bishop Singh, led in his evidence-in-chief by Police Prosecutor Desiree Fowler, said he became the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Georgetown in 1972 but ceased functioning in that capacity in December 2002. However, he said he was asked to hold onto that post until a successor was appointed and he vacated the office in October 2003.
According to the Bishop, prior to and during his tenure, Sacred Heart Church was ensured by GTM and Hand-in-Hand.
Bishop Singh told the court that the insurance ceased “about one year after the fire.”
And according to him, there was no other insurance policy after those two ended.
He testified that he recalled being contacted by the police some time in January 2006 to give a statement in relation to the destruction of the church and “I think something came up about the insurance company.”
He said that while speaking to the police a document was produced and he was told something.
At this point there were objections from the defence about the prosecutor’s line of questioning and so the magistrate took a decision to record the question and answer in her evidence book.
Prosecutor’s question: As a result of the document shown to you by the police, did you do anything or did anything happen?
Bishop Singh’s response: The police took a statement.
The magistrate then pointed out that from all appearances the Bishop had not been briefed before the hearing since when the questions by the prosecutor were asked “he seems to be at a loss.”
When the prosecutor later asked the Bishop if the statement he gave to the police was in relation to the matter before the court, he looked bewildered and was unable to answer.
He however testified that he did remember signing the statement that he gave to the police.
Under cross-examination by Datadin, he said he was the person acting on behalf of the church with regard to the two insurance policies and only monitored them during his tenure.
“The policies fell through during my tenure. I cannot say what went on with the policies after October 2003,” he testified.
After the prosecutor could not phrase a question to clarify the inconsistency, the court was forced to ask one to clear up the entire issue of when the two polices ceased to exist.
The court asked Bishop Singh at what stage did the policies fall through and he responded, “I think the policies fell through in 2090.”
That statement caused some confusion in the courtroom and the magistrate said, “What you are saying does not make sense to me. Please step down.”
The prosecutor then asked for a date for continuation but the magistrate inquired about the presence of other witnesses.
She was then informed that Soares was to be cross-examined and after there was no response when his name was called by the orderly, an arrest warrant was issued.
“I fixed an entire afternoon for this matter. When I am going to finish it?” the magistrate asked, displeasure very evident in her voice.
It is alleged that on December 29, 2004, Sukhdeo, with intent to defraud forged a document purporting to be a GuyFlag fire and perils claim for US$2 million ($400 million) 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 approach-ed a claims adjuster here that the alleged scam was discovered and he was arrested on November 17, 2005 and placed on $50,000 station bail.
He was charged in March the following year with forgery and endeavouring to obtain upon a forged document and he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on March 21 that year. He was released on $75,000 bail on that occasion.
In August last, the prosecution opened its case with testimony from Roman Catholic Bishop Francis Alleyne.
He has since concluded giving his evidence. Then there were adjournments fuelled by the letters to the Director of Public Prosecu-tions for the position of special prosecutor.
When the matter was called on April 18, it had to be adjourned owing to the absence of the magistrate who was on sick leave.
Prior to that attorney-at-law Gino Persaud who along with Nigel Hughes had applied to be special prosecutor, had indicated to the court that he had received no word from the DPP and as such a three-week adjournment was given.
On that occasion, the magistrate had suggested that the attorney go to the DPP’s chambers and attempt to seek an audience with the DPP.
In May, the magistrate once again adjourned the matter while stressing that the court could not continue to adjourn the matter while it awaited word from the DPP on the special prosecutor application. Then in July, the prosecution brought its second witness, Soares.