Closing arguments were on Friday made in the matter against a Soesdyke businessman who was charged last September with trafficking two Venezuelan nationals for labour.
Feezal Shaw is presently before Magistrate Faith McGusty on charges which state that between February 14 and June 14, 2018, at Soesdyke, he engaged in trafficking in persons; that is, he recruited, harboured or transported Eduardo Vivas for him to work and did not pay him.
Another charge states that between the said periods he recruited, harboured or transported Hector Jose Rodriguez for him to work and did not pay him.
When the matter was called on Friday, closing submissions were presented to the court by the defendant’s attorney, Gary Ramlochan. Police prosecutor Deniro Jones was then granted a short period to reply to the submissions made.
The matter is expected to be called again on July 12.
It is the police’s case that on February 14, the victims, who are both Venezuelan nationals, were invited to Guyana to work for Shaw. The victims were allegedly brought to Guyana and told that they would be building cages for Shaw’s exotic animals. They were reportedly paid for their first three days here and then they were not paid anything until June 1, when they were given $100,000. They asked for the money owed to them on later occasions but were never paid.
It is also alleged that Shaw took their passports and told them he would get them an extension of time but never returned the documents.
