Strongly disputing the state’s case that it was merely a quantity of ‘stones’ retrieved and lodged by the police after a robbery at his Potaro mining camp back in 1994, miner Ronald Khan remained adamant that it was instead $54M worth of uncut diamonds.
This was Khan’s testimony at the trial before Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln yesterday morning at which he is contending that his diamonds which were lodged with police after the robbery and are now missing, were wrongfully detained by the Guyana Police Force.
Following yesterday’s hearings, Justice Corbin-Lincoln said she will send out notices of the date on which the decision in the matter will be handed down.
During the robbery, bandits shot and killed Khan’s brother and his work associate. He too was injured during the attack which left him blind in the left eye and nursing a bullet wound to the neck.
Refuting the state’s contention that his vision impairment would have hindered him from definitively concluding that what the police had shown him were diamonds, Khan who said he had been in the gold and diamond mining business since 1950 remained adamant that it was his diamonds which police had shown to him.
An impassioned Khan told the court that in spite of the injury to his eye, “I could see enough to see my diamonds at the police station” which he also said carried a weight of 430 carats.
He said that after being called to the Mahdia Police Station where police had lodged the diamonds after retrieving them from the suspected robbers, he identified and confirmed with the lawmen that the items retrieved from the perpetrators of the robbery were in fact his diamonds.
Questioned by attorney Tiffany Castello who represented the Attorney General and Commissioner of Police—against both of whom the action was brought, Khan said he knew the weight of the diamonds because he had weighed them at his camp.
He said that after the police showed him his diamonds, they also then “weighed it in front of me at the police station” while adding that at that point he also confirmed with them that the precious minerals were valued at $54M.
He said that the diamonds were weighed in the presence of an officer whom he said he could only remember as “Wilson” and a number of others policemen whose names he had no recollection of.
Led by his attorney Nigel Hughes, Khan in his testimony said that thereafter he does not know what became of his diamonds but said that after enquiring from one Constable Wesland Fraser three months later, he was informed that “they can’t find the diamonds.”
In his testimony, however, the now-retired Corporal Fraser who was called as a witness for the state said that he never had any conversation with Khan about the alleged diamonds which he described as being stones, nor did he ever tell him the items were missing and that police could not find them.
In response to questions from Hughes, Fraser did, however, say that after handing to Wilson a crazy glue container which he said contained the stones lodged with police, he never again saw it.
He said that in his dealing with the matter, he had made a diary entry of also receiving the stones from now retired Assistant Superintendent of Police Courtney Ramsay who was also involved with the case.
This, he said, however, was before he had handed the crazy glue container over to Wilson.
For his part too, Ramsay who was also called as a witness for the state said he does not know what happened with the stones after he handed it to Fraser.
Asked by Hughes, Ramsay said he never did, nor was he ever asked to conduct an investigation into the missing stones and said that even up to the point of his retirement, he did not know what transpired with the items.
Asked to explain the procedure for lodging and escorting items of evidential value retrieved from the commission of any crime, Ramsay told Hughes that practice dictates annotations being recorded in the general property book of movement of evidence.
He said the respective escorting officer must make such a record when the item leaves the station to be transported to another, or any other place to where that item may have to be delivered.
Also testifying for the state yesterday was retired Inspector of Police Terrence Sample who corroborated Ramsay’s account of the procedure for moving evidential items, but added that such items are usually sealed.
He said that those seals would only be broken if the item has to be delivered to an analyst for inspection after which it would be resealed and opened again if it is to be tendered as an exhibit in court.
According to him, the stones were lodged in accordance with standard procedure.
He said the stones he saw “appeared to be bricks” which he said were “fine dark stones.”
When asked, however, he told Hughes that he never conducted mining for diamonds, nor does he have any idea of what its varying types or properties looked like.
Khan had explained to the court that what was in the police’s possession was the raw, uncut diamonds after he had already graded it and found that it amounted to $54M.
He said that diamonds are graded in four categories—good, reject, industrial and fine.
He said the good ones meant that the diamonds were clean and had no carbon which he said were the type retrieved by the police from the robbery at his mining camp.
Meanwhile, reject diamonds he said would have stains and water marks. The industrial ones he said would be very dirty, while the fine ones were small.
He told Castello when asked, that he could not recall whether he had ever informed the police of the quality of diamonds he had.
Further questioned by the state attorney, Khan said that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission would confirm finds to be diamonds as well as the value.
He, however said that he had verified his value.
In a writ filed on January 3rd, 2011, requesting the return of his diamonds from the police, Khan argues that the items were being wrongfully detained by the Police Force and thereafter sought an order directing the Attorney-General and/or the Commissioner of Police to return his diamonds forthwith.
In the alternative, he was seeking an order directing the Commissioner of Police to compensate him for the full value of his diamonds–$54,000,000.
Acknowledging that it has been unable to locate what it described as “stones” purported to be diamonds, which were recovered by police from Khan’s mining camp after the robbery in 1994, the state is contending that Khan must prove, not only that the stones were in fact diamonds, but that they also carried a value of $54 million as he is claiming.
Khan’s position had been that once his diamonds were returned to him, he would not proceed with a trial.
After initially undertaking to locate the precious minerals and reporting that it had come up empty handed, the state said that the matter would have to proceed to trial as had been indicated by Khan/plaintiff.
Sixteen years after the robbery—by letter of 24th November, 2010, the plaintiff said he, through his attorney, wrote the Commissioner of Police requesting the return of his diamonds. He said that while receipt of his letter was acknowledged, the Commissioner of Police failed to return his property.
According to Khan, despite making several demands, the Attorney General had “failed and or refused,” to return his diamonds.
