A man was yesterday fined $40,000 with an alternative of 12 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to stealing his co-worker’s phone.
Magistrate Alan Wilson handed down the fine at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, where Anand Singh was arraigned on a simple larceny charge.
Singh, 48, admitted that on April 27, at Ruimveldt, he stole a BlackBerry smartphone, valued $46,000, from Abiola Assanah.
According to Police Prosecutor Renetta Bentham, Singh and Assanah are known to each other.
She added that on the day of the theft, Assanah left her phone on a table to charge and Singh picked it up with the intention of taking it. Bentham further stated that Assanah after noticing that her phone was missing raised an alarm and the police were summoned and Singh was subsequently arrested.
Singh, who was unrepresented by an attorney, told the court that he picked up the phone because someone stole his phone and that he received no justice when he reported the matter to the police station. He added that he Assanah are good friends since they work at the same place and he was unaware that the phone belonged to her.
