Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday granted bail in the sum of $200,000 to a 26-year-old man when he appeared before her at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stealing a quantity of money from the Guyana Post Office (GPO).

Deso Solomon of Hosororo, in the North West District, pleaded not guilty to the charge of larceny by a  public servant.

He denied that between November 24 and 28, at the Matthew’s Ridge Post Office, while being employed as a public servant he stole $152,696, property of GPO.

His lawyer Ronald Burch-Smith applied for reasonable bail for him stating that his client had been employed at the Matthew’s Ridge Post Office for the last two years. He said that his client would usually deliver mail and receive money and packages on behalf of the post office. He added that Solomon would usually make a record of this in the company’s record book.

The lawyer explained that this matter is as a result of a quantity of money that his client had received on behalf of the Post Office but had not made a record of it immediately in the record book.

He said that when the persons in authority at the Post Office realised this they immediately made a report to the police station.

He went on to say that his client was arrested on November 30 and had been in police custody since then.

“My client came under great prejudice because his constitutional right of being granted station bail was refused,” Burch-Smith stated.

The lawyer then requested that his client be placed on bail while the investigation in the matter is ongoing.

Prosecutor Stephen Telford made no objections to the bail application but asked that it be set in a substantial amount.

He noted that investigations into the matter should be completed by February 2 next year.

The magistrate then transferred the case to the Matthew’s Ridge Magistrate’s Court for February 2.