Man charged in visa scam put on bond for two years

A man who was accused of obtaining a quantity of cash by pretending that he was in the position to get two men American visas and jobs when they got to the US was ordered to pay court costs and was placed on a bond to keep the peace for two years.

Gopaul Tiwari, 40, of 73 Second Street, Craig Village, East Bank Demerara pleaded not guilty to two counts of obtaining money by false pretence  when he appeared yesterday before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

It  was alleged that on March  2 Tiwari, with intent to defraud, obtained $106,000 from Naresh Chottu  under the pretext that he was in a position to get him a US visa and a job in the  US. Tiwari on the same day allegedly obtained another $106,000 from Takour Ramnarine under the same pretence.

However, Tiwari stated that he wanted to resolve the matter so he offered to recompense both Chottu and Ramnarine with $50,000 each to which they agreed.

The magistrate subsequently ordered that Tiwari pay a court cost of $10,000 and placed him on a two-year bond to keep the peace.