The accused in the theft of almost $2 million in hardware items was released on bail last Friday after his lawyer told a city court that the stolen goods in fact belonged to his client.
The courtroom of Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan heard that between May 28, 2014 and October 26, 2016, at Georgetown, Chanderpaul Mangru stole $1,814,541 in tiles, paint, ply board and other items from Abdool Gafoor.
Mangru, who was represented by attorney Motee Singh, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Singh said that his client, who is a construction worker, should not be in court since the items that were stolen were his.
He said that his client owns a bond, from where the items mentioned in the charge were stolen.
Singh further told the court that his client could prove that the items were his and that he was innocent of the crime. Singh also related that Mangru was prepared to challenge the matter in court.
Although he noted that the items that were stolen had not been recovered, Police Prosecutor Neville Jeffers had no objections to the accused being given bail.
As a result, the Chief Magistrate set bail at $150,000. It was later reduced to $100,000 upon a request by the lawyer, who asked for a reduction while noting that his client was the sole breadwinner for his family. The matter was later adjourned until November 21.
