Dhanraj Raghubir, the computer technician accused of forging a United States Embassy appointment letter, was yesterday cleared of the charges for want of prosecution.
Raghubir, who was employed with Creative Concepts, a social media marketing company, had faced two charges.
It was alleged that on October 25, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, he forged the United States of America Embassy appointment letter.
The accused was also read an additional charge which stated that on the same day and at the same location, he uttered the forged document to Vanessa Gomes, knowing same to be false.
Raghubir denied both charges.
During yesterday’s proceedings before Magistrate Judy Latchman, Prosecutor Kerry Bostwick requested some time to ascertain the whereabouts of the defendant’s file as he was unsuccessful in retrieving it. The request was granted by the magistrate despite an objection by Raghubir’s attorney, Paul Braam.
When the matter was called again, Prosecutor Bostwick told the court that the defendant’s file would have been mixed up with those for the other matters he currently has before the Chief Magistrate relating to fraud.
He subsequently requested further time to retrieve the file and file statements.
An objection was raised by Braam, who told the court that none of the matters that are before Magistrate Latchman are before any other court. He later requested that the charges be dismissed.
Considering all factors, the magistrate noted that the defendant’s case was first before her on January 20 and, since then, statements were yet to be filed.
It was based on this fact that the two charges against Raghubir were dismissed.
The accused is also facing 17 indictable charges of fraud before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, where it is alleged that between the months of July, 2015 and September through December, 2015, he took a total of $1,419,160 from persons under the guise of either making payments to the Bank of Baroda for United States visa applications, or for bank draft fees related to United Kingdom and Canadian visa applications.
