Two men who were remanded to prison last week after they denied stealing a car were yesterday granted bail by the Chief Magistrate when they made another appearance in court.
Marvin Samaroo, 45, of 10 Number 2 Village, Berbice and Christian Ganga, 24, of Phoenix Park, West Bank of Demerara had not been required to plead to the charge which alleged that they, on February 16 at Adelphi Village, stole motor vehicle PPP 3149 when it was read to them by Magistrate Ann McLennan.
The vehicle, property of Jonathan Ricknauth, is valued at $1.2M.
The men were also charged with fraudulently placing another licence plate on the vehicle between February 16 and February 18 in East Canje, Berbice. They both pleaded not guilty to the charge.
During yesterday’s proceedings, attorney-at-law Paul Fung-a-Fat made an appearance for Samaroo. According to the lawyer, his client had been invited by Ganga to take a drive to the city and had not known the car was stolen.
This time around, both men were granted bail, $250,000 for the fraud charge and $600,000 for the simple larceny charge, on the condition that they report to the Reliance Police Station every week. They were also required to surrender all travel documents.
Prosecutor Deniro Jones had initially raised objections to the men’s bail in court 2, stating the nature of the offence as his reason. He had further added that more charges are likely to be laid.
Samaroo and Ganga will make their third appearance for reports and fixtures on March 5 at the Reliance Magistrate’s Court.
