A Linden man was charged with stealing dredging equipment valued at $3.1M on Monday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where he was granted $100,000 bail after pleading not guilty.
Andrew Park, 35, of 27 Amelia’s Ward, Linden was granted bail by acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on the charge of simple larceny.
It was alleged that between December 1, 2009 and August 16, 2010 at Essequibo, Park stole the dredging equipment, which belonged to Earnest Lee Primell.
Attorney Gordon Gilhuys, who represented Park, told the court that his client was innocent of the charges, saying that he had never even visited the interior location where the crime was alleged to have occurred.
Gilhuys charged that Primell left the items in the care of another person and had migrated to the United States, where he underwent surgery. Upon his return, the lawyer said, the person in whose care the items were left was unable to deliver them to Primell. “They have to charge Primell, not my client,” Gilhuys declared, while asking that Park be released on reasonable bail. He noted that Park had no previous convictions, had a fixed place of abode, posed no risk of flight and had been cooperating with the police in its investigation.
The complainant was not present in court and the prosecution had no objection to bail. As a result, Park, a father of two, was later placed on bail and the case was transferred to the Bartica Magistrates’ Court for October 7.
