A 37-year-old man accused of uttering a forged passport to an immigration officer and conspiring with persons to insert a forged immigration stamp into a passport was yesterday placed on bail in the sum of $300,000 when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson.
Danie Hemraj, a carpenter of Number 58 Village, Corentyne, Berbice pleaded not guilty to the charges of uttering a forged document and conspiracy to commit a felony when they were read to him by the acting chief magistrate at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The allegation is that on October 26 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri with intent to defraud, Hemraj uttered to an immigration officer one Republic of Guyana passport, number R0044625, containing a forged immigration stamp purporting to be genuine, knowing same to be false.
Between August 1 and October 26, Hemraj is also alleged to have conspired with person or persons unknown to insert one immigration stamp into passport number R0044625 knowing same to be forged.
Attorney-at-Law Khemraj Ramjattan who represented the carpenter made an application that his client be admitted to reasonable bail on the grounds that he has no previous convictions, has a fixed place of abode, poses no risk of flight and has been cooperating fully with the police in their investigations.
The prosecution told the court however that the accused had been previously deported from the United States for entering that country illegally. For this reason, the prosecution said that the accused if granted bail may not return to stand trial and should be denied bail since, “he poses a great risk of flight.”
Noting that this is the second time the defendant has been accused of such allegations, the prosecution further stated that upon his deportation from the US, Hemraj was held in Trinidad and Tobago where officials there realised that he had forged travel documents in his possession. He had admitted to the officials there that he had paid $30,000 for the documents to a man identified only as “Boy”.
“My worship this is the second time the accused is being fingered in such wrongdoings and it is the prosecution’s firm belief that he should be denied bail,” the prosecution argued.
Despite the points raised by the police prosecutor, the attorney’s application was granted and the father of three was later placed on $150,000 bail for each charge.
He was ordered to return to the Providence Magistrate’s Court on November 6 for the forgery charge and to the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on November 11 for the conspiracy charge.
