A twenty-seven-year-old man who allegedly stole $1M from a woman was granted bail yesterday when he appeared before Magistrate Nigel Hawke at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

John De Souza of 52 Evans Street, Charlestown, was not required to plead to the indictable charge of simple larceny.

It is alleged that on October 18, at Houston, East Bank Demerara, De Souza stole from Sabrina Singh $1M in cash.

However De Souza’s lawyer, Mark Waldron, stated that the case brought before the court is a civil matter regarding a contract between his client and Singh.

He further stated that Singh was using the police force as a means of getting compensation for an outstanding debt.  Waldron further posited that as a result of the contract, Singh had given De Souza the money to buy construction equipment and a misunderstanding resulted in Singh reporting that the money was stolen.

He noted that the charge brought against his client did not have the essential elements to support it as an act of simple larceny. The defence attorney then applied for bail.

The prosecution made no objections to the bail application and it was subsequently granted in the sum of $70,000 by the magistrate. De Souza was then ordered to appear back in court on November 24.