Seven charged with GuySuCo payroll heist

Seven men, believed to be part of a gang responsible for a rash of recent high-profile armed robberies, were yesterday charged with last week’s $17.2M GuySuCo payroll heist and a string of robberies.

Charged were: Robert Darr, 35, of 3 Public Road Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, who was dubbed the mastermind of the GuySuCo robbery, which resulted in the death of two robbers during an extended firefight with police; Paul Stephenson, 24, also of 3 Public Road Mc Doom; Lloyd Johnson, 32, 11 Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara; Dennis ‘Anaconda’ Williams; Aldrhen Adonis, 29, of 941 Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, a former member of the GDF Coast Guard; Jermaine Todd, 21, 131 Baltimore Street Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara  and John Ross. The men were not required to plead to the charges and they were all remanded to prison.

Darr, Adonis and Stephenson were levelled with a total of 14 charges. Johnson also answered to those 14 charges, in addition to seven additional charges of robbery under arms and one charge of break and enter and larceny; crimes he allegedly committed at Fort Island, Essequibo River

It is alleged that on November 6 at Stanleytown, armed with guns, they robbed Budnarine Sawh of $17.2 million cash, the property of GuySuCo. Further, it is alleged that they also robbed D. Sundat, Phillip Rampersaud, Wade, Olric Taylor and Phillip Haynes of two cellular phones, a quantity of cash, two 12-gauge shotguns and a quantity of cartridges, a .38 revolver – BBY8456 — and a motor van worth $4.2 million, belonging to the Guyana Employment Bureau (GEB) Security Service.

Four GEB security guards were escorting the GuySuCo payroll when it was hijacked by members of an armed gang on the Stanleytown Public Road last week. Two suspected gang members, Leon Dundas, of Punt Trench Dam, Albouystown and Eric Williams, of Fyrish, Corentyne, were killed during a short out with the lawmen, while the remaining members were held by police after an extensive land and river operation.

Attorney Adrian Thompson entered appearance for Ross and Todd in association with attorney-at-law Euclin Gomes and requested bail, though the prosecutors argued against it, citing the seriousness, prevalence and multiplicity of the crimes. Subsequently, Magistrate Octive-Hamilton remanded the men and they are to appear at Wales Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for the case.

Meanwhile, Darr, Adonis, Stephenson and Johnson faced several other charges related to a series of recent robberies. Magistrate Octive-Hamilton first read the men six charges of robbery under arms and two charges of discharging a firearm with intent. The charges stemmed from alleged crimes committed at Kuru-Kuru, Linden-Soesdyke Highway.
Heavily armed gunmen attacked a Lethem-bound minibus, shooting the driver and robbing the passengers of valuables. The bandits had numbered around eight and were in two cars. Following the robbery, they escaped.

Police alleged that on October 24 at Kuru-Kuru, the four men, being armed with guns, robbed Lionel Calendar of items worth $955,000; Chim-a-pow Robert Vincent of clothing, a Suriname Passport #R-1041034 and a quantity of US dollars together worth $350,000; Daniram Singh, of gold jewellery worth $310,000; and W. Roberto of one Suriname Passport #R-1113247 and a quantity of US dollars together worth $160,000. It was also alleged that at the same location the men discharged rounds at Barbara Pereira and Daniram Singh, with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or cause grievous bodily harm.

Attorney Stephan Luis represented Darr and entered an application for reasonable bail. According to Luis, Darr was before the court in a similar matter during 1980, but the case of alleged possession of a firearm against him had been dismissed.

Darr, a welder/body-work technician, was picked up by police at his home at 4 pm in connection with the Stanleytown robbery on the said day. Luis claimed that Darr was severely beaten by the police and said he was picked up based on information the police received from persons they had taken into custody in relation to the GuySuCo robbery.

Further, Luis told the court that his client was labelled as the mastermind of the Stanleytown robbery. The charges levelled against Darr, he stressed, did not in anyway reflect him as being the mastermind of the alleged crimes. Concluding his submissions in the Kuru-Kuru matters, Luis stated that Darr was never identified in an identification (ID) parade, nor was he identified in any confrontation as an individual involved in the alleged crimes.

Thompson, Lawrence Harris and James Bond defended Adonis, Stephenson and Johnson, respectively. In his bail application, Thompson, like Luis, informed the court that his client was surprised by the charges instituted against him. He too said that his client was never identified in an ID parade.
Harris said his client, Stephenson, was badly beaten by the police and he pointed out a visible wound on the man’s left cheek to the court. Stephenson was at a friend’s house in Goed Fortuin when he was apprehended by the police, Harris explained. “He was beaten to confess to something he knows nothing about,” Harris stated. “These are bailable offences and he should be given bail.”

In his bail application, Bond echoed his submissions and added that Johnson was not a flight risk. He said his client was eating in a Chinese restaurant when the police apprehended him. Further, he added that he was denied the right to counsel when picked up.

Magistrate Octive-Hamilton advised him to file the appropriate application to address the alleged denial of counsel to Johnson. She then invited the prosecution’s response to the bail applications for the Kuru-Kuru cases.

The prosecutors objected to bail citing the risk of the men fleeing the jurisdiction and the seriousness and prevalence of the crimes. They had earlier stated that if granted the bail there was the likelihood that the men would commit similar crimes, though the magistrate advised against speculation. Darr, Adonis, Stephenson and Johnson were subsequently refused bail and the matter will be heard next on November 17 at the Providence Magistrates’ Court.

Before the Stanleytown charges were read to them, the four men were levelled with two charges of robbery underarms which allegedly occurred at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. It is alleged that on October 14 at the stated location the men robbed Davendra Chetram, a businessman, of $6 million and Omwattie Chetram of a quantity of gold and diamond jewellery, at gunpoint.

The attorneys relied on their submissions in the Kuru-Kuru matters and made bail applications which were against objected to by the prosecution. In addition to the previous grounds stated the prosecution further cited the “multiplicity of actions of a similar nature before the court presently” as a valid reason for refusal of bail. The foursome was once again remanded to prison by Magistrate Octive-Hamilton and the Tuschen robbery matters transferred to the Leonora Magistrate’s Court for November 20.