Bhojnarine Gopaul and Tulsiram Ramprashad appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday before acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus where they faced the joint charge of attempting to defraud Citizens Bank via an automated teller machine (ATM).
The court heard that on October 29, police acting on information received, tailed a car, PAE 364, and observed Ramprashad exiting the vehicle in front of the OMG restaurant located at the corner of Sheriff Street and Campbell Avenue, Campbellville, Georgetown, which housed a Citizens Bank ATM.
After leaving the ATM the three suspects, Gopaul, Ramprashad, and a female, were intercepted and searched. They had in their possession two cellular phones, two five-thousand-dollar bills, 2 one thousand- dollar-bills, and one hundred-dollar-bill. Also discovered was one Bank of America Visa card, one New York State Medicaid card, along with two blank cards with magnetic strips.
The trio was arrested and taken to CID headquarters and interviewed. During his interview Ramprashad stated, “I didn’t steal any money the man give me he bank card and asked me to take out the money.”
The prosecution said that the defendants are to appear before the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on a similar offence as they had entered a Citizens Bank ATM in the Giftland Mall. It was argued that in the event the defendants receive bail they are likely to repeat the offence. The police are also actively seeking another person who is said to be the mastermind behind the operation.
Attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva who represented Gopaul told the magistrate that his client who is a technician by profession, had resided in the United States for three years and overstayed on his visa and as such was not a flight risk. As such, he made an application for bail with the assurance that Gopaul would abide by the conditions set for bail.
The magistrate, however, denied the application and refused bail despite DaSilva’s urgings to the magistrate to reconsider bail for his client since there was no certainty of a trial date.
Gopaul’s accomplice, Rampershad was without legal representation.
Both men were remanded to prison until their next scheduled appearance on November 30.
