Seuranie Rampersaud, the sister and mother of Bel Air heist robbery convicts Chandraradha Rampersaud and Hardat Kumar, respectively, was yesterday fined $100,000 after being found guilty of obstructing justice by threatening to kill a witness’s family if he testified against her relatives.
Rampersaud, 56, of 692 Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, was told by Magistrate Fabayo Azore that she would have to spend 12 months in prison if she fails to pay the fine.
Magistrate Azore who presided over the matter read from her written ruling which detailed the factors the court was tasked with taking into consideration and which led to a guilty verdict for the accused.
Rampersaud appeared visibly relieved after being informed by the court that a fine would be imposed instead of the one-year prison term.
Attorney Deborah Kumar, who represented Rampersaud, begged the court for mercy after hearing that her client had been found guilty. In mitigation, she said that Rampersaud had no previous charges nor convictions and requested lenience. “She is a first-time offender,” counsel stressed.
The court said it considered that the defendant was a first-offender but noted that what weighed heavily against her was the fact that she attempted to prohibit persons form giving evidence against her son, Kumar.
The charge against Rampersaud, to which she had pleaded not guilty, was that on October 1, 2012, she attempted to obstruct the course of justice.
Attorney and Special Prosecutor in the robbery matter Glenn Hanoman, who presented the facts in Rampersaud’s case also, had told the court during trial that the defendant made a telephone call to one Mohinie Seemangal, sister of Rabindranauth Seemangal.
Rabindranauth was a co-accused in the robbery, but later became a witness for the prosecution after pleading guilty to the charge and being sentenced.
In the call, the court was told that Rampersaud threatened to kill Mohinie and her family if her brother, Rabindranauth, testified against Chandraradha and Kumar.
Hanoman had said that while Rampersaud denied ever making any such call, telephone records showed otherwise; substantiating that the call was in fact made.
On July 12, 2011, businessman Malcolm Panday’s wife Annie Ramsood was robbed of $7.2 million at their Bel Air home.
Chandraradha is Ramsood’s mother; Kumar her cousin; and Seuranie her aunt.
The other defendants in the robbery were Jermaine Mitchell, Aubrey Simon and Rayon Jones, who along with Chandraradha and Kumar were all convicted and sentenced to jail time on July 24.
