A mother and son, of East Canje, Berbice, are now on bail after being charged with trying to bribe a United States Embassy employee to issue a United States visa.
Bibi Paramanand and Parmesh Parmanand, of Lot 6 Adelphi, Block 2, East Canje, Berbice, yesterday pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy when they both appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One.
The charge against the Parmanands is that between September 2 and September 10, they conspired with persons unknown to pay an American Embassy employee $600,000 to have a US visa issued to Parmesh Parmanand.
No further details about the charge were shared with the court.
Attorney Clive Forde, who sought bail for the mother and son, told the court that Bibi is 49-years-old, married and has two children. He added that she is a food vendor and does not pose a flight risk since her passport has been surrendered to the police.
Forde further stated that Parmesh is 19-years-old and employed as a labourer with GuySuCo’s Rose Hall Estate.
Prosecutor Michael Grant did not oppose bail but asked that conditions be attached.
As a result, Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry set bail at $100,000 for each of the two defendants with on the condition that they report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) every fortnight. Their next court date is October 24.
