Charged with stealing over $17 million in an armed robbery, three men were yesterday not required to plead when they appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It was alleged that Howard Rambarose, Rajesh Singh, and Alastair Naughton robbed Mahesh Chetrani of $17.25 million, property of the Shamdas Kirpalani store on December 20 at Georgetown, while being armed with a gun.
According to Prosecutor Bharat Mangru, Singh, an employee of the general store, is tasked with depositing the store’s funds into the bank account.
Singh’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes explained that his client had been an employee of the store for 6 years and had never been complained about. He further added that after the robbery on December 20, a statement had been given to the police by Singh on the same day and he was released.
However, on December 24 he was arrested at his workplace and beaten with a baton to write a statement and sign it, Hughes continued. Clyde Forde, who represented Rambarose, said that his client had been on his way to court for a separate matter at the time of the robbery and therefore had an alibi. Naughton was unrepresented.
According to Mangru, $500,000 and $211,000 respectively were recovered from Rambarose and Naughton. Mangru continued that there are two statements on file for Singh, one for December 20 and another for December 24. The first statement, he said, did not implicate Singh as it was given as a victim while the second statement implicated Singh in the robbery as it was given as a suspect.
Singh was placed on $500,000 bail while his co-defendants were remanded by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. The three men are scheduled to return to court on January 14.
Also charged in relation to the robbery was Joan Persaud, the aunt of Rajesh Singh. It is alleged that on December 20 at Georgetown, Persaud received the sum of $370,000, knowing the money to be unlawfully obtained.
Prosecutor Mangru objected to bail, stating that Persaud might be a flight risk.
The woman, who is employed as a security guard, was granted bail in the sum of $100,000 and was also ordered to return to court on January 14.
