A woman was yesterday charged with making a false declaration on a passport application form after a 10-year-long investigation.
But Devika Das, 31, of 307 Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, was admitted to bail in the sum of $50,000, after she denied the charge when it was read to her by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The allegation against Das is that on March 13, 2002, at Georgetown, she knowingly made a false declaration on a Republic of Guyana passport application form for the purpose of procuring a passport stating that she was Bibi Katuma Ali, knowing same to be false.
Attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat, who represented the woman, said that the matter had been under investigation for almost ten years but that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has now advised that charges be laid.
According to Fung-A-Fat, it was his client’s mother, who is now deceased, that had been using the passport and he added that his client knows nothing about the charge levelled against her.
Following his application for bail, it was set in the sum of $50,000 and the matter was adjourned until September 6.
