A 26-year-old man accused of uttering a forged US$100 note was on Thursday placed on $50,000 bail when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Andrew Subryan, a GT&T service representative, pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of a forged currency note and uttering a forged currency note when they were read to him by the acting chief magistrate.
It is alleged that on July 29 at Georgetown, Subryan of 291 Grove, New Housing Scheme, East Bank Deme-rara, with intention to defraud uttered one US$100 note to David Bacchus, knowing same to be forged.
On the same day also, the said Subryan allegedly without lawful excuse had in his possession one forged US$100 note, knowing same to be false.
Attorney-at-law Deborah Kumar who represented the defendant told the court that her client had no knowledge that the note was counterfeit. According to Kumar, Subryan had gone to a city cambio to change the note into Guyana currency when the discovery was made by the sales representative attending to him.
CID ranks, according to Kumar, who were present at the cambio at the time were subsequently summoned. The attorney said that her client then explained to the ranks that he had bought the note from an exchange vendor off America Street and had no idea that the money was forged. Subryan was later arrested and charged with the offences.
The lawyer then made an application for her client to be admitted to reasonable bail on the grounds that he has no previous brushes with the law, poses no risk of flight, has a fixed place of abode and has been fully cooperating with the police in their investigations.
The virtual complainant was not present at court.
The defendant was subsequently admitted to $25,000 bail on each charge and his matter was transferred to Court Two for September 4.
