Former Director of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Carvil Duncan, was yesterday found not guilty of stealing almost a million dollars from the company, after insufficient evidence by the prosecution.
Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that a prima facie case had not been established against Duncan, who had been charged with simple larceny, and that the court would not call on him to lead a defence. It was alleged that on March 31, 2015, at Georgetown, he conspired to steal $984,900, which was the property of GPL.
Prior to making her ruling, Magistrate Daly stated that she had perused various law journals to analyze whether or not a no-case submission should be upheld.
It was stated that it was up to the prosecution to prove whether Duncan had received consent to take the money, if the money was an absolute or special property of GPL, if he took and carried away an article, whether he took an article capable of being stolen, and whether he had a claim of right to the funds.
The prosecution failed to prove that no consent had been given to the defendant to take the funds, the magistrate said. In this instance, the prosecution called on former Prime Minister Sam Hinds to give evidence which the magistrate ruled to be hearsay. In the evidence given by Hinds, it was indicated that while Cabinet approved pay increases for GPL board members, there was no decision on retroactive payment.
Hinds spoke about what had transpired during Cabinet meetings.
However, it was stated by the Magistrate that there was no evidence led to show that the defendant had been present at any of the meetings.
The prosecution also tendered the cabinet memorandum, which according to the magistrate was a photocopied document, adding that the prosecution had made no attempt to prove that an original existed, and that the copy was a true representation of the original.
In an attempt to prove Duncan’s guilt, the prosecution tendered a bank statement which indicated that the sum of $984,900 had been debited from GPL’s account. However, the prosecution led no circumstantial evidence in relation to the bank statement, forcing the court to only admit the document for the fact that it existed, and not for the truth of it.
In summation it was clear, according to Magistrate Daly that the prosecution had failed to lead sufficient evidence to support all the evidence that had been brought before the court.
It was upon these grounds that Duncan heard that a prima facie case had not been made out against him, and he would not be called upon to lead a defence. Subsequent to this decision Duncan, who seemed unaware of what had occurred, had to be nudged by one of his attorneys, telling him that he was free to go.
On his way out of the courtroom he gave a thumbs up sign, and smiled broadly.
Although Duncan was freed of the simple larceny charge, he was made aware by Police Prosecutor Bharat Mangru that he is set to face trial once more on January 4, 2016 for the conspiracy charge which states that between May 7, and May 8, 2015, he conspired with another to steal the sum of $27,757,547.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Duncan said, “I feel relief, relief in the sense that I was always innocent, and the magistrate has proven that I am innocent based on the evidence.”
