A man who allegedly fraudulently converted a quantity of phone cards and top-up minutes entrusted to him by another was granted $250,000 bail yesterday by acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson when he appeared before her in Court One.
Michel Rodrigues, 30, of 135 King Edward Street, Albouystown pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him by the magistrate.
It is alleged that on May 21, being entrusted by Rampertab Etwaria with $1M worth of Digicel flex cards, $500,000 worth of GT&T landline cards, $200,000 worth of Digicel top-up minutes and $237,000 worth of C-Point; a total of $1,937,000, he converted same to his own use and benefit.
He was represented by attorney Neil Bollers who told the court that his client had no antecedent. He also challenged the jurisdiction of the court since he said that the transaction was commercial in nature and should be referred to the High Court.
He said that the charge was brought against his client because the complainant has a personal grievance against him.
He then made an application for reasonable bail to be granted since his client would attend court to defend himself. He contended that the charge was weak and that the prosecution would find it difficult to prove its case.
The prosecutor did not object to bail being granted.
Rodrigues was then granted bail and the matter put down for August 13 in Court Two.
