A cell phone technician appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday charged with receiving stolen cell phones and accessories from North Point Imports on King Street earlier this month.

Shivnauth De Abreu, 27, of Lot 4 Dowding Street and Vlissengen Road, Kitty denied the allegation of receiving stolen property and Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan released him on $75,000 bail.

It is alleged that between January 4 and 27 at Kitty, De Abreu received 20 GSM cell phones and a quantity of cell phone accessories together valued $593,500, knowing that they were stolen or unlawfully obtained. The items belonged to Denswick Northe, owner of North Point Imports.

Reports are that Northe was informed on January 8 that his store was broken into. When he arrived at the premises he found the bolts and padlocks that secured the door lying on the floor and over $5M worth of cell phones and accessories were missing. Cash and household items were also missing from the store.

About a week after the theft, police arrested Wycliff Grant and shortly after he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court where he was remanded to prison by Acting Chief Magistrate Cecil Sullivan.

Grant is scheduled to make another court appearance on February 10 in Court Five.

Police acting on the information they received went to De Abreu’s Kitty residence were they conducted a search and reportedly found some of the stolen cell phones and accessories. De Abreu who is a technician was told of the offence and arrested.

Attorney-at-law Ronald Burch-Smith appeared for De Abreu. The defence counsel in his application stated that his client received cell phones from relatives abroad and also had some customers’ phones at his home to repair. According to the lawyer when the police searched his client’s home they took all the phones that were there.

Added to that, Burch-Smith said, none of the phones was identified by the complainant.

De Abreu has to return to court on February 19.