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Four men, including a Republic Bank employee, were yesterday remanded to prison after appearing before Magistrate Priya Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.The quartet, Kurt Thompson,NFL Jerseys From China, 21, of 396 Eleventh Street Section ‘K’ Block ‘X’ Diamond, East Bank Demerara, David Sundar, 20, of I 34 Jackson Street, Tucville, Georgetown, Leroy Walker, 20, of 760 Section ‘B’ Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and Mark Johnson, 20, of Section ‘B’ Diamond, East Bank Demerara, are all accused of conspiring with each other to commit a felony.A further charge states that they stole $6.5M, property of the Guyana Oil Company, between July 23 and 24.David Sundar a former employee of Republic Bank, was slapped with a single charge which states that between July 24 and 27, while being employed at Republic Bank, he transferred $6.5M from the Guyana Oil Company, in the name of Onika Kellman, without lawful authority.The four men pleaded not guilty. They were represented by Attorneys at law Glenn Hanoman, Mark Waldron, Peter Hugh and Rexford Jackson.The lawyers in a bail application told the court that all the defendants are from well-respected homes.Attorney at law Hanoman, who represented Thompson, said that his client was arrested since Saturday. According to the lawyer, Johnson was simply asked by a friend to collect some money. Hanoman noted that bail should be granted since the offence is a bailable one.Attorneys Mark Waldron and Peter Hugh who represented Leroy Walker, David Sundar and Mark Johnson, told the court that their clients have no previous convictions, further noting that their parents would fully undertake to bring them back to court.However, Police Prosecutor Munilall Seetaram objected to bail and told the court that David Sundar was formerly employed at the bank, when the defendants hatched a plan to defraud the entity.The prosecutor further told the court that Sundar used a forged instrument to carry out the act.Seetaram said that Sundar had initially refused, but later complied, and he transferred some $6.5M from the Guyana Oil Company’s account to the name of Onika Kellman.He further stated that the bank noticed the discrepancies and a hold was placed on the account.The matter was later reported and the defendants were arrested and charged with the offence.The prosecutor said that bail should be denied since the defendants are likely to commit similar offences, and there was also the likelihood of them fleeing the jurisdiction. He explained that additional charges are also pending for the defendants. The prosecutor also opined that the defendants would tamper with witnesses.The four defendants were all remanded to prison. They are expected to make another court appearance on September 21.One of the defendants, Kurt Thompson, was slapped with an additional charge of unlawful possession of ammunition. He made a court appearance before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton. It was alleged that Thompson, on August 22, at Diamond, had in his possession 14 rounds of 9MM ammunition. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was represented by attorney at law Rexford Jackson. The lawyer told the court that the ammunition was not found in his client’s possession. He said that the premise is presently occupied by several other persons and it could have been any of those persons.However, the prosecution told the court that the defendant gave the police a caution statement admitting to the offence. The prosecutor further stated that the ammunition was found in the defendant’s bedroom. An application was made for that matter to be transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court for Friday. That application was granted by the magistrate.(Latoya Giles) |
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