Two men who are accused of committing passport fraud were placed on $75,000 bail each yesterday by acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
Vincent Edwards, 36, allegedly used a false passport under the name Phabian, (only name stated) when he went to Canada and he was detained there for two months.
He subsequently returned to Guyana to look after his child who he said was sick and he was detained at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and charged with passport fraud.
The other accused, Royston O’Neil McCain, a Jamaican citizen came to Guyana on August 16, 2010 and allegedly changed the date on his passport to read that he had entered the country on August 16, 2012, a date that is still months away.
The court was told that he loves Guyana and wishes to regularize himself by getting married to his child’s mother but at the moment he is financially incapable of doing so.
He was granted a six-month stay in Guyana, but failed to regularize himself or report to the relevant authorities. The Jamaican pleaded not guilty to the passport fraud charge but guilty to overstaying his time.
Attorney-at-law Gordon Gilhuys represented Edwards who had initially pleaded guilty but later changed his plea to not guilty.
Both accused were put on $75,000 bail each and they have to return to court next month.
