(Trinidad Express) A 39-year-old Point Fortin man, who police described as a Baptist Archbishop, was yesterday charged with demanding money by menace and obtaining money under false pretences.
He was held by Tunapuna police last week after a Valsayn doctor reported to police that the man was allegedly demanding money by menace from her after she refused to make further payments to him for his spiritual services.
The suspect, of Warden Road, Point Fortin, was yesterday charged with demanding in excess of TT$300,000 by menace and obtaining money by false pretence and fraudulent conversions.
He is expected to appear before a Tunapuna magistrate later today. The operations of the Tunapuna Court continues to take place at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court as attempts to rectify a sewerage problem continues.
St Joseph detectives, headed by Snr Supt David Abraham, Acting Insp Wayne Baptiste and Sgt Vetus Hernandez, Cpl Garcia and Ronald Ramdeen, began investigations into the incident after the doctor made a report last week.
The woman’s friend, a 64-year-old former employee of the Ministry of National Security, also made a similar report to the police involving the same man.
Police said between October 1 and November 30, last year, the suspect is alleged to have taken TT$212,000 from the doctor in part payments which were made by cheques.
Officers said the payments were for spiritual services provided to the doctor after the spiritual healer told the doctors that someone had done bad things to her spiritually and she had one week to live.
The suspect, police said, promised to reverse her spell.
Officers said the suspect repeatedly made threats to the doctor asking her for more money because the previous prayers he conducted did not work.
The man reportedly showed up at the woman’s home and work- place last week demanding more money and threatening to inform her husband. She called the police who held him in Tunapuna.
The former National Security Ministry employee, police said, paid the man TT$102,000 during the same period for spiritual services in relation to a court matter relating to a land dispute.
The man is also alleged to have demanded more money from the woman also threatening to inform her husband.
Detective Ramdeen of St Joseph CID investigated the incidents and laid the charges against the suspect.
