A woman was yesterday placed on $2.6 million bail after she was arraigned at court on charges that she stole over $13 million through forgery.
It was alleged at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts that between January 5, 2011 and December 14, 2012, Jasodra Bahadur, 35, of lot 18 Block CC, Mon Repos, East Coast, Demerara, stole the sum of $13,172,321, belonging to Mohammed Khan, by forging 26 cheques.
She was not required to plead to the more than two dozen indictable charges when they were read to her by Magistrate Ann McLennan.
Prosecutor Deniro Jones told the court that Khan sells goods to New Horizon, where Bahadur works as a sales representative.
Khan, during each delivery, was required to sign a blank cheque while Bahadur inserted the values from the bills and took the cheques to her employer
to have them signed. However, she allegedly failed to do so on numerous occasions and instead cashed the cheques in her name.
Jones added that Bahadur’s name was signed on each of the cheques, whereas her employer’s name was supposed to be signed on the cheques. He further stated that more charges are likely to surface, since the investigation is ongoing.
He noted the seriousness and prevalence of the offence in his objections to bail. He also cited the amount of money involved in the crime and he noted that Bahadur was placed on bail for a similar charge in which the quantum amounted to over $5 million.
He was also concerned about the likelihood of Bahadur not returning for trial if granted bail.
In response, attorney Latchmi Rahamat, who represented Bahadur, said the fact that her client is on bail for a similar matter did not warrant an objection since she did not commit the alleged crimes while out on bail. Against this background, Rahamat argued that that Jones’ statement was a deliberate attempt to mislead the court.
She admitted that her client does have pending matters in court in relation to Khan, for which she was placed on $350,000 bail. Rahamat added that Bahadur has no previous convictions and that the current 26 cheques, which she is accused of forging, along with the previous matter are the only times, she’s had brushes with the law.
Rahamat also stated that Bahadur has no intention of fleeing and has always cooperated with the police in this matter. As a result, she asked that Bahadur be sent on her own recognisance.
Because of the amount of money Bahadur spent on bail already, she is currently facing some financial difficulties, the lawyer said, before adding that if Bahadur was not placed on self-bail, then at least reasonable bail would be very much appreciated.
Magistrate McLennan set bail at $100,000 for each charge. Since Bahadur faced 26 charges, she was granted bail in the sum of $2.6 million, under the condition that she reports to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) every Friday and that her passport is lodged with the clerk of the court.
The proceedings are due to continue on January, 8.
