Defence attorney Nigel Hughes yesterday closed his case in the trial of former Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) accountant Peter Ramcharran, who is accused of falsifying the entity’s accounts.
The five charges against Ramcharran, who is being tried by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One, alleges that while being the accountant of the GRDB, he omitted to enter a total in excess of $414 million in the GRDB ledger.
On a previous occasion, Hughes asked to see the external audit report, which was brought up in court during the previous hearing by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) prosecutor Patrice Henry when he was cross-examining defence witness Leslie Veerasammy.
The report was not presented to the court, hence it was not tendered. However, while noting the fact that Henry questioned Veerasammy about the report, Hughes asked if the defence could see the contents and told the Chief Magistrate that he would start the process to acquire the report.However, yesterday, it seemed that the defence was unsuccessful in acquiring the report as Hughes told the magistrate that they would be closing their case because they have difficulty getting the audit report. Hughes explained that it is vital that they have access to the document considering that it is tied to their second and final witness, Nigel Hinds. He explained that since they couldn’t access the document, he was forced to close their case. He subsequently requested an adjournment so that he can prepare written no-case submissions.
The Chief Magistrate agreed and adjourned the matter until January 21st, when Hughes will hand over his submissions. She added that on January 27th, the prosecution will reply to those submission.
After the determination of the current charges, the court is due to hear 16 misappropriation charges that are based on the allegation that Ramcharran, former GRDB General Manager Jagnarine Singh and Agricultural Consultant Madanlall Ramraj fraudulently took or applied to their own use and benefit, or for any other purpose other than the use of GRDB, over $5.1 million, between January 8th, 2010 and January 17th, 2017.
Additionally, there remain 17 charges against Ramcharran based on the allegation that as a member of the GRDB, he omitted or concurred in omitting from the organisation’s general ledger, entries related to a total of over $7 million in various periods between January 11th, 2010 and July 17th, 2012.
