After being charged with two separate offences, a man who told the court that he lives in Venezuela, was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court.
Ryan Singh, 25, called ‘Elvis’ pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of forged currency notes and uttering forged currency notes.
It is the prosecution’s case that on September 21 at 1.05 am, Godfrey Stoll was the bartender at an event that was being held at the Charity Playground when Singh approached and handed Stoll US$100 to change. Stoll suspected the note to be counterfeit and told Singh of the suspicion. Singh reportedly tried to grab the money and run away, but Stoll held on to him. With the help of a police officer, a search was conducted on Singh and five more US$100 currency notes suspected to be counterfeit were reportedly found in his pants pocket.
The man who was not represented in court, he told the magistrate that he had come from Venezuela to visit his sick brother.
Police Prosecutor Haimwant Ramsewak objected to bail stating that Singh could be a flight risk since he lives in Venezuela. He also stated that the man had given the police two addresses: one in Reliance and the other in Aurora both on the Essequibo Coast. But when he was taken to the villages, he could not point out the homes of relatives, where he claimed to be staying.
Singh told the magistrate that for the past seven years he has been living in Venezuela and could not remember the location of places. He also begged the magistrate to be lenient with him.
Bail was however refused and Singh was remanded into the custody of the state until October 14.
