The trial of former Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) accountant Peter Ramcharran for alleged falsification of an account commenced yesterday.
Ramcharran, who was extradited from Canada to face multiple fraud charges, is currently on trial before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for the five charges of falsification of an account.
The charges allege that Ramcharran, while being the accountant of GRDB, omitted to enter a total in excess of $414 million in the GRDB ledger.
During yesterday’s court proceedings, Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Investigator Robert Tyndall testified to obtaining several court orders for various banks, including Republic Bank.
He also noted that on March 6th, 2019, he was on duty at the Cheddi Jagan international Airport (CJIA), with an arrest warrant for Ramcharran. After Ramcharran was handed over to him by the Canadian authorities, the accused was arrested and taken to SOCU, where the allegation that he falsified an account by omitting to mention Republic Bank # 650-677-8 in the GRDB ledger for 2015 was put to him.
Tyndall said Ramcharran was later cautioned and told of his rights and he opted to remain silent. He was then taken to the Georgetown Magis-trates’ Courts with the arrest warrant.
Subsequent to Tyndall’s testimony, he was subjected to cross-examination by the defendant’s attorney.
Afterward, Noel Sookhai, who was employ-ed at GRDB as a clerk, Nizam Hassan, the General Manager of GRDB, Davin Panday, the Technical Information Officer at GRDB, Allison Peters, the Deputy General Manager at GRDB and the Secretary for the GRDB Board of Directors, and Dennis Nunes, also took the witness stand.
While Sookhai, Hassan, Panday and Peters are to return for cross-examination by the defendant’s attorney, Nunes is expected to return to court to complete his evidence.
The matter is expected to continue today.
Apart from the falsification of an account charges, Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus will be dealing with the 17 charges of keeping fraudulent accounts against Ramcharran. His trial on those charges will commence on October 22nd.
