A Guyanese woman is facing 25 years to life in prison if she is convicted of charges of arson in the United States, where she is accused of setting her business on fire in a scheme to collect on an insurance policy.
Zabeeda Permaul, co-owner of Charlie’s West Indian Bakery in New Jersey, was arraigned on Thursday after being charged with first- and second-degree arson and two counts of second-degree insurance fraud, which are all felonies.
She had previously been charged with second-degree arson and first-degree reckless endangerment and had been released on $100,000 bond.
According to a Times Union report, the prosecutor says Permaul, 54, set her business ablaze with the hopes of collecting the money from an insurance policy.
The report further stated that the woman was said to be deep in debt and behind on her taxes when she deliberately set fire to the business just before midnight on February 22nd, 2015.
Permaul operated the business on the first floor of the 1414 State St property and lived in a second apartment upstairs.
A woman who lived in an upstairs apartment had to be rescued by firefighters and was hospitalised due to smoke inhalation as a result of the fire, the report said.
Investigators said Permaul used an accelerant to set fire to the building’s cellar stairs.
“The defendant did it for financial gain and she did it while she had reasonable knowledge somebody was present in that building while she set fire to it,” Assistant District Attorney Kevin Cheung was quoted as saying in the report.
Cheung explained that Permaul owed money to family and friends and was in arrears on her city taxes on the building.
The woman’s attorney, Samuel Iroegbu, said his client maintains her innocence and declined to give any further comments.
Permaul, who is a married mother of three adult children, was taken into custody and jailed without bail after her arraignment. If convicted, she could face 25 years to life, the maximum penalty on the top count, Cheung added.
