Two Liberian nationals are being accused of defrauding a Berbice businessman of over $10 million.
Robert Papie Doe, 42, and Anthony Davies, 31, were charged with obtaining US$51,340, equivalent to $10,578,040, from Krishanand Jaichand, also known as Heimchand, by false pretence, on March 13 at Corriverton.
They are also charged with entering Guyana by sea without presenting themselves to an immigration officer at Springlands, Corentyne, on November 27.
The two men pleaded not guilty to both charges when they appeared before Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts yesterday.
The men’s entry into Guyana prompted concerns yesterday as they were said to have arrived from a country which was stricken with the deadly Ebola virus.
Prosecutor Michael Grant, who objected to the men being granted bail, said that they met the victim while staying at his hotel, City Inn, at Corriverton. Jaichand was told that they were importers and that they had a container with appliances at a Georgetown wharf.
After he expressed interest in purchasing appliances which the men promised to supply, the cash was handed over and the men later checked out of the hotel and they were never seen again by him until their arrest, when he positively identified them at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Attorney Lyndon Amsterdam, who represented the two accused, told the court that the matter his clients was involved in was of a contractual nature and they were about to come to a resolution with the plaintiff when the police became involved, making it look like it was a criminal matter.
In relation to the second charge, where the defendants were accused of withholding themselves from immigration, Amsterdam said that it was impossible for his clients to have done that since there were no immigration officers present upon their arrival.
He added that the police should have ensured that immigration officers were on duty. “If I arrive at Timehri and there is no immigration officer there, I will go through,” Amsterdam stressed.
He also said that Doe, who is a technician, shares a relationship with a woman who lives at Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara and that he has fathered a child with the woman. She, the attorney claimed, was assisting the man to become a naturalised citizen.
Davies, said to be an electrician, was staying at the same Stanleytown address, the attorney added.
However, Grant said when the two men were arrested, they did not produce an address where they were staying in Guyana. In response to Amsterdam’s contention that no immigration officer was present when they entered the country, he submitted that after the men entered Guyana, they had the opportunity to present themselves at the immigration offices at New Amsterdam, Ogle and even the Central Immigration Office, but failed to do, hence the charge.
After considering the submissions, bail was refused and the matter was transferred to Springlands Magistrate’s Court for December 4.
