Two Chinese nationals who allegedly presented a forged document to an immigration officer on arriving in the country were granted $200,000 bail each on Tuesday, when they appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The allegation against Zhengji Zhen and Guang Jin Ye is that on November 28 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, with intent to defraud, they uttered to Constable 20513 Sears, a forged letter dated November 17, 2010 purportedly issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoH), knowing same to be false.
The men were not required to plead to the indictable charge of uttering a forged document.
Their lawyer, arguing for reasonable bail, said that they were here to establish a legitimate business and had trusted a local person from the MoH to have the letter prepared and had no knowledge that it was fake.
Prosecutor Stephen Telford related to the court that the letter which was shown to the immigration officer bore the ministry’s letterhead and stated that upon their arrival, the two defendants should be presented with visas to remain here. The prosecutor said that this was a forged document.
He then objected to the men being granted their pretrial liberty. After hearing the case however, Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry admitted the men to bail. They were ordered to return to court on January 17.
