A 56-year-old man from Berbice was today charged by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) with `Conspiracy to Defraud’ in another romance scheme.
John Patrick Lewis of Lot 34 Williamsburg Village, Corentyne, Berbice appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Leron Daly where he pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of $50,000.
He was represented by Attorney-at-Law Euclin Gomes. SOCU was represented by their in-house Attorney, Towanna Hardy.
Based on reports received by SOCU, Lewis, who is a carpenter, was the recipient of $146,500 sent by the complainant with the understanding that she would receive a money laundering certificate to clear her expensive package sent by her Facebook boyfriend.
He was alleged to have acted as a third party for another person who befriended the complainant via the said Facebook connection.
Lewis is just one of the four recipients who the complainant sent money to; SOCU is currently looking for the others.
The complainant said she sent the money to Lewis after she was instructed to do so by her `Facebook boyfriend’, who provided her with all of Lewis’s personal information.
She sent the money using Western Union money transfer. To date she has not received any package and her Facebook boyfriend has since disappeared.
The matter was investigated by SOCU and the suspect was arrested and charged.
The case will come up for hearing again on 2nd September, 2022.
On Tuesday last, SOCU instituted similar charges against Jaffon Hinds of Lot 106 Downer Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara. The Head of Special Organized Crime Unit Assistant Commissioner F Karimbaksh is once again calling on all Guyanese to be vigilant about the Package Delivery and Romance Scams.