A miner has been charged with incurring a debt of $234,000 through fraud over the rental of a car from a taxi service.
The charge read by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday stated that between July 22 and August 19, at Georgetown, Michael Persaud, of Lot 15 Public Road, Herstelling, East Bank, Demerara, fraudulently incurred the debt when he rented a car from Candacy Barrow.
Persaud pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Prosecutor Bharat Mangru stated that Barrow, the owner of a taxi service, had rented the car to Persaud, who later requested time to pay off his debt but failed to do so at the deadline. As a result, Barrow made a report to the police and Persaud was arrested.
Attorney Sase Gunraj, who appeared for Persaud, told the court that his client is a miner and had rented the car from Barrow during the month of March. He added that during the month of July, one of Persaud’s clients could not pay him on time and as such Persaud had issued a promissory note to Ian Barrow, the virtual complainant’s brother.
Gunraj said that this note stated that a payment will be made on or before September 30. He said that at the time his client was arrested, he was about to the pay the money to Barrow.
Gunraj also felt that to have his client charged with obtaining credit by fraud was not applicable. He informed the court that his client had the money and was ready to pay off his debts to Barrow.
This prompted Barrow to inform the prosecutor that she was willing to drop all charges once she receives the money due to her.
Chief Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry subsequently placed Persaud on $50,000 bail but Gunraj suggested that his client be released on his own recognisance, which was granted. He was also ordered to pay off his debt by the end of today.
