An arrest warrant has been issued for Detective Constable Richard Persaud, who was accused by two staffer of a Superbet shop in East Canje, Berbice, of taking over $100,000 to assist them with a court matter in August.
The arrest warrant was issued after Persaud, of Lot 51 Number 58 Village, Corentyne, failed to appear in court on Wednesday to be charged with corrupt transaction by agent.
The matter was called at the Reliance Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Peter Hugh and after Persaud did not appear, an arrest warrant was issued and the matter was postponed to January 8th, 2020, for report.
In early August, two employees of the Superbet location were accused of stealing a sum of cash by the owners, who had filed a report at the Reliance Police Station, where Persaud was stationed as a detective at the time.
The two employees were expected to be charged but they have since alleged that Persaud had told them to appear at court, where they paid $60,000 each to him to assist them in the matter. A source had told Stabroek News that the two women have not yet faced any charges as advice is still being awaited on that matter.
In August, Persaud was also accused by the owners of planting ganja on the premises of the Superbet located in Reliance Settlement, East Canje.
Persaud had told Stabroek News that he resigned from the Guyana Police Force after he was arrested and questioned in the matter pertaining to planting the illegal item.
While the owners had claimed that Persaud, in an attempt to shake them down, planted the illegal item on their premises which he later pretended to find during a search, CCTV footage of the premises had shown Persaud and a uniformed rank arriving in his car after which they stopped in front of the yard for a few minutes and then ventured inside.
Persaud had told Stabroek News that it was raining and as a result they waited for it to subside before walking in. The footage showed Persaud and the rank, whose uniform did not have his name tag, walking in and Persaud looking at the side of a hut, located in the front of the yard, then walking to a stairway, from where he had said they called for the owners.
The footage then showed Persaud, the uniformed rank and the owners, Maria Pardesi, 62, and Hemraj Pardesi, also known as ‘Prem,’ 65, of Lot 9 Reliance Settlement, East Canje, Berbice, heading to the front of the hut.
It clearly showed Persaud remaining with the couple in front of the hut while the uniformed rank walked to the back of the hut and returned with an item in his hand. The footage then shows the uniformed rank talking to the couple, after which he showed the item to Persaud.
The uniformed rank, although identified by this publication, was never held in the matter nor has he faced any charges to date.
Persaud had claimed to Stabroek News that he believed he was being framed by a senior police officer who had accused him of being one of the sources behind this publication’s stories about corrupt police practices in Berbice.
However, although Stabroek News had revealed that Persaud was not one of the sources behind those stories, he was still summoned to the senior officer’s office where he was accused of leaking the information to the press.
Meanwhile, in relation to the Superbet allegation, the source said they are still awaiting advice on how to proceed on that matter.
It was after the Superbet scandal that the two employees came forward to lawmen at the Reliance Police Station and accused Persaud of taking the money from them.
